d, t or dt? Writing the Dutch verb ending right

Ik word (I become) ends in -d, while hij vindt (he finds) ends in -dt. At the end of these words, written d and t sound alike, so your ear cannot decide. First check that you are spelling the present-tense verb that changes with the subject. Then let the subject decide whether you add -t.

Start with the subject. With ik, use the stem without -t. With subject-first jij/je (informal you), with u (formal you), or with a third-person singular subject, add -t: compare ik word with jij wordt. Before you apply that decision, make sure the stem is spelled correctly. The ik-form is a useful shortcut: worden (to become) → ik word and vinden (to find) → ik vind. Do not always just cut -en off the infinitive, because normal spelling rules still apply: maken (to make) → ik maak. In the present singular, the ending you may add is -t, never -d.

1. Find the subject—the person or thing the verb is about—and the ik-form: worden → ik word, vinden → ik vind.
2. With ik, use that form without -t. With a plural subject, use the infinitive: wij worden, wij vinden.
3. With subject-first jij/je, with u, or with a third-person singular subject, add -t. A stem ending in -d then ends in -dt: word + t → wordt, and vind + t → vindt.

You cannot hear the added -t after a stem ending in -d: word and wordt sound the same. Put lopen (to walk) in the same place in the sentence and copy its ending. You are testing the form, not the sentence's meaning.

• Hij ___ het antwoord niet. (vinden). The test form is hij loopt, so write hij vindt.
• ___ jij dit leuk? (vinden). The test form is loop jij, so write vind jij.

Three details keep the subject rule accurate. First, jij/je loses -t only when it is the subject and follows the verb. Compare Jij wordt dertig (You are turning thirty) with Word jij dertig? (Are you turning thirty?).

Second, the polite subject u keeps -t in both positions: U wordt dertig and Wordt u dertig?

Third, check what je means. In Morgen wordt je salaris gestort (Your salary will be deposited tomorrow), je means your and je salaris is the subject, so wordt keeps -t. More cases and the full pattern are on the -dt rule page and in the simple present tense.

Do not choose by sound. With ik, write the stem without -t: ik word and ik vind. In the regular present-tense pattern, you never add -d. Write hij verandert (he changes), not hij veranderd.

A form ending in -d can be correct outside this pattern. In Hij heeft de code veranderd (He has changed the code), veranderd is a past participle—the verb form used here with heeft. The word heeft is the present-tense verb that agrees with the subject. The test in this article applies only to that present-tense verb. Past forms follow other rules. For why final written d sounds like t, see spelling a final -d or -t.

Finally, do not write two identical consonants at the end of a word. If the stem already ends in -t, the added ending is not written separately: praten (to talk) → ik praat → hij praat, not hij praatt. Some verbs have irregular present forms; check their conjugation instead of forcing this regular pattern onto them.