Dutch grammar

Every grammar guide of Lingora’s Dutch A1 course, with examples you can listen to.

01Adjectives: DeclensionAdjectives in Dutch change their ending depending on their position in the sentence and the gender of the noun they describe. There are two main forms:…
02Adjectives: The ComparativeTo compare two things, Dutch adds -er to the adjective. klein becomes kleiner, warm becomes warmer, mooi becomes mooier. There is no separate word for…
03Nouns: GenderDutch nouns are grammatically divided into two main categories based on the definite article they use: common gender and neuter gender. While…
04Personal PronounsPersonal pronouns indicate who is performing the action in a sentence. In Dutch, these pronouns change depending on the person (first, second, third),…
05Verbs: Present TenseDutch verbs generally end in -en in their dictionary form (the infinitive). To conjugate a verb in the present tense, you first need to find the stem.…
06Emphasis using 'wel'The word wel is one of the most versatile and frequently used words in Dutch. Its primary grammatical function is to indicate positive polarity, making…
07Stressed vs. Unstressed PronounsDutch personal pronouns and possessive adjectives often have two forms: a stressed (emphatic) form and an unstressed (standard) form. The unstressed form…
08Nouns: Genitive CaseThe genitive case indicates possession, origin, or a specific relationship between nouns. While historically Dutch had a complex system of case endings,…
09Verbs: Progressive Tense with 'aan'To describe an action that is currently taking place, Dutch uses a specific construction often called the "continuous" or "progressive" form. While…
10Pronouns: Objective FormObject pronouns are words used to replace nouns when they function as the object of a sentence. This occurs in three main situations: The pronoun…
11Reflexive Verbs and PronounsA reflexive verb turns the action back on whoever is doing it: Ik was me - I wash myself. Dutch reaches for that construction far more readily than…
12Definite ArticlesDutch uses two definite articles: de and het. Both translate to the English word the. The correct article depends on the grammatical gender of the noun…
13Nouns: PluralDutch nouns generally form their plural by adding either -en or -s to the singular form. The choice between these two endings depends on the spelling and…
14Possessive AdjectivesPossessive adjectives are words placed directly before a noun to indicate ownership or relationship. In Dutch, these words correspond to the person who…
15Indefinite ArticlesDutch has two definite articles (de and het), but only one indefinite article: een. It corresponds to the English a or an. Unlike definite articles, een…
16Expressing Politeness with 'u'Dutch distinguishes between an informal and a formal way to address people. While jij (or je) is used for friends, family, and children, the pronoun u is…
17Separable VerbsMany Dutch verbs are constructed by combining a basic verb with a prefix, such as op, aan, mee, or uit. These are called separable verbs because, in many…
18Verbs: Perfect TenseThe perfect tense is the most common way to describe past events in spoken Dutch. It is used for actions that have been completed. While it looks like…
19Pronouns: Usage of 'er'The Dutch word er is one of the most versatile and frequent words in the language. It has four distinct functions that translate differently into English…
20DiminutivesDiminutives modify a noun to indicate that it is smaller, cuter, or to express affection. In Dutch, this is done by adding a suffix to the end of the word.
21Verbs: Past TenseThe simple past tense, known in Dutch as the onvoltooid verleden tijd, is used to describe actions that happened in the past. It is the primary tense…
22alsjeblieft vs. alstublieftDutch distinguishes between formal and informal address, and this extends to the word for "please". The choice of word depends entirely on the…