Verbs are the engine of every sentence. In Dutch, verbs change their endings depending on who is performing the action. This is called conjugation. The good news: Dutch verb conjugation is simpler than German and follows clear, learnable patterns for most verbs.
Once you master the regular conjugation pattern and a handful of irregular verbs, you can communicate in Dutch at a surprisingly high level. Most everyday Dutch uses only about 200 core verbs!
📐 Finding the Stem
Step 1: Find the Stem
Take the infinitive → remove -en → apply spelling rules if needed:
- werken → werk (stem)
- lopen → loop (stem — long vowel stays long in open syllable)
- leven → leef (stem — v→f at end of syllable)
- reizen → reis (stem — z→s at end of syllable)
📐 Present Tense (Tegenwoordige Tijd)
| Pronoun | Ending | werken | lopen | zijn | hebben |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ik | stem | werk | loop | ben | heb |
| jij/je | stem + t* | werkt | loopt | bent | hebt |
| hij/zij/het | stem + t | werkt | loopt | is | heeft |
| wij/we | infinitive | werken | lopen | zijn | hebben |
| jullie | infinitive | werken | lopen | zijn | hebben |
| zij/ze | infinitive | werken | lopen | zijn | hebben |
* When jij/je comes AFTER the verb (in questions or inversion), drop the -t: Werk jij hier?
📐 More Essential Irregular Verbs
| Pronoun | kunnen (can) | willen (want) | mogen (may) | gaan (go) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ik | kan | wil | mag | ga |
| jij | kunt/kan | wilt/wil | mag | gaat |
| hij | kan | wil | mag | gaat |
| wij | kunnen | willen | mogen | gaan |
📐 Simple Past: The T-KOFSCHIP Rule
T-KOFSCHIP (also: 't fokschaap)
Check the last letter of the stem against: t-k-o-f-s-c-h-i-p
- If the stem ends in one of these letters → past tense: stem + te(n)
- If NOT in this list → past tense: stem + de(n)
| Verb | Stem | Last letter in TKOFSCHIP? | Past (ik) |
|---|---|---|---|
| werken | werk | k ✅ | ik werkte |
| spelen | speel | l ❌ | ik speelde |
| kopen | koop | p ✅ | ik kocht (irregular!) |
📐 Perfect Tense
The perfect tense uses hebben or zijn + past participle. The past participle is formed with ge- prefix + stem + -t or -d:
✏️ Practice
- Conjugate lopen for ik → ik loop
- Past tense of werken (ik) → ik werkte
- Conjugate zijn for wij → wij zijn
🔗 Continue Learning
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