Useful sentences
Everything you need to say hello, say where you're from, and talk about what you do.
Grammar
Two building blocks: the articles de and het, and the present tense of regular verbs.
a. Articles
Dutch nouns have as article de or het (English: "the"). There are no simple rules for when to use de or het — each noun is learned with its own article.1
The English word "a" is in Dutch: een.
Het is pronounced as written, but more commonly shortened to 't. Een is pronounced as 'n — it's only pronounced as één when the meaning is the number 1.
b. Regular verbs
Infinitive: [stem]+en (werk+en → werken)
- Singular: just the
[stem], or[stem]+t(werkorwerk+t → werkt) - Plural: same as the infinitive
For "you," Dutch uses jij or je in the singular and jullie in the plural. In more formal speech, u is used instead — for both singular and plural. Zij (also ze) stands for either "she" or "they."
Below: the conjugation of two regular verbs, and the irregular zijn ("to be").
werkento work
| ik werk | I work |
| jij werkt | you work |
| u werkt | you work (formal) |
| hij/zij werkt | he/she works |
| wij werken | we work |
| jullie werken | you (pl) work |
| zij werken | they work |
wonento live
| ik woon | I live |
| jij woont | you live |
| u woont | you live (formal) |
| hij/zij woont | he/she lives |
| wij wonen | we live |
| jullie wonen | you (pl) live |
| zij wonen | they live |
zijnto be
| ik ben | I am |
| jij bent | you are |
| u bent | you are (formal) |
| hij/zij is | he/she is |
| wij zijn | we are |
| jullie zijn | you (pl) are |
| zij zijn | they are |
Good to know
The formal u works for both one person and several — its plural doesn't take the usual -en ending. For example: U bent de baas ("you are the boss") and U werkt hard ("you work hard").
1. More on de and het: dutchgrammar.com
Exercises
Practice conjugating, then fill in the blanks and try a few translations.
1Complete the lists
wonen · to live
| ik | ………… |
| jij | ………… |
| u | ………… |
| hij/zij | ………… |
| wij | ………… |
| jullie | ………… |
| zij | ………… |
leren · to learn
| ik | ………… |
| jij | ………… |
| u | ………… |
| hij/zij | ………… |
| wij | ………… |
| jullie | ………… |
| zij | ………… |
werken · to work
| ik | ………… |
| jij | ………… |
| u | ………… |
| hij/zij | ………… |
| wij | ………… |
| jullie | ………… |
| zij | ………… |
spreken · to speak
| ik | ………… |
| jij | ………… |
| u | ………… |
| hij/zij | ………… |
| wij | ………… |
| jullie | ………… |
| zij | ………… |
2Fill in the missing words
- 01Hallo, ik … Astrid. (to be)
- 02Hoe … ben jij? (old)
- 03Hij … Kees. (to be called)
- 04Zij … goed Nederlands. (to speak)
- 05Uit welke … kom jij? (city)
- 06Wij … uit Utrecht. (to come)
- 07Hoe … jij? (to be called)
- 08Jij … twintig jaar. (to be)
- 09Jullie … dertig jaar. (to be)
- 10Ik … in Amsterdam. (to live)
3Translate
- 01Hello, I'm Peter.
- 02I'm from Germany.
- 03I'm 25 years old.
- 04I live in Utrecht.
- 05How are you?
Word list
Learn these, then add your own words as they come up in class.