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Dutch grammar

One rule per page — explained with examples, then a short quiz.

Verbs

Simple past: regular verbs

Verb stem: four spelling rules

Simple present

-dt rule for verbs

Forming the past participle (ge- ... -d/-t)

Present perfect

Pluperfect

Future with zullen and gaan

zou and zouden

Future perfect and conditional perfect

hebben or zijn in the perfect

Modal verbs

te + infinitive

Bare infinitive

om ... te + infinitive

aan het continuous

Positional continuous

IPP rule (infinitivus pro participio)

Separable verbs: present and past

Past participles of separable verbs

Inseparable verbs

Separable or inseparable verbs?

zijn and hebben

Common irregular verbs

Strong-verb patterns

Imperative

Passive with worden and zijn

Present participles as adjectives

Infinitives used as nouns

Impersonal passive: Er wordt gewerkt

dienen te and behoren te

Modals for certainty and hearsay

te + infinitive for can and must

The krijgen-passive

Agreement after een aantal

blijken, lijken, schijnen + te

Causative laten and doen

Agreement with coordinated subjects

The surviving subjunctive: leve, ware

Nouns and articles

de or het?

Nouns that take het

Nouns that take de

een or no article

Articles: Dutch vs English

Plural -en

Plural -s and -'s

Choosing -s or -en plurals

Irregular and foreign plurals

Diminutives

Choosing diminutive endings

Irregular diminutives

Compound nouns

Linking letters in compounds

deze, die, dit and dat

Possession with van and -s

Countries and nationalities

Fossilised case forms: des, der, ten

Turning clauses into noun phrases

Adjectives

Adjective -e ending

Adjectives without -e

Comparatives and superlatives

Irregular comparison

Comparisons with dan and als

Adjectives without a noun

Adjectives that drop the -e

Expanded participial modifiers

Adverbs

Modal particles

Linking adverbs and V2

Degree adverbs

Linking adverbs and word order

Focus particles and what they scope over

Certainty adverbs and where they go

Prepositions

er is and er zijn

Quantitative er

Prepositional er

Core prepositions

Fixed verb-preposition pairs

geleden, over and binnen

Place prepositions

er + preposition before a clause

Prepositions after adjectives and nouns

Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions

want, omdat or doordat?

toen, als or wanneer?

Shortened te-clauses and their subject

indien, mits, tenzij: formal conditions

Concession: hoewel, ook al, ondanks

Paired connectors: zowel ... als

nadat, zodra, totdat and the tense rule

Degree and result: zo ... dat

Participle clauses

of after a negative (balansschikking)

Numbers

Cardinal numbers

Ordinal numbers

Telling the time

Days, months and dates

Prices, decimals and quantities

Negation

niet or geen?

Position of niet

al, nog, nog niet, niet meer

Questions

Yes/no questions

Question words

welke and wat voor (een)

Word order

Sentence frame (tangconstructie)

Main-clause word order

Verb-second (V2) rule

Inversion

Time–Manner–Place

Verb clusters at the clause end

Separable-prefix placement

Verb-final subordinate clauses

Relative and indirect-question order

Object pronoun placement

Direct object placement

Postpositions after the verb cluster

Verb-first conditionals: Mocht u ...

Order inside a three-verb cluster

Clauses after the verb cluster

Topic outside the sentence: aanloop

Fronting a participle or infinitive

Breaking up the verb cluster

Samentrekking: leaving words out

Spelling

Alphabet and spelling aloud

Syllable division

Vowel length in open and closed syllables

Double and single vowels

v to f and z to s

Final -d or -t?

Trema (diaeresis)

Apostrophes

Accent marks

Capital letters

Hyphens in compounds

Word groups inside compounds

English loans in Dutch compounds

Capitals for institutions and functions

Tricky pairs

jou or jouw?

dan or als? Quick rule

Formal u forms

hen, hun, zij and ze

-n rule: sommige or sommigen

dezelfde or hetzelfde?

Choosing -d, -t or -dt verb endings

naar ... toe and ... heen

10 common idioms

hoeven or moeten?

kennen, kunnen and weten

Position and placement verbs