Do you know how to say "verb" in Dutch? It's WERKWOORD. Zie je? The Dutch call verbs -work words-, because verbs describe ACTIONS. That makes them the most important word of any sentence - they tell you what is being done and by whom.
| 📖 | Persoon | drink-en | werk-en | luister-en |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ik (I) | drink | werk | luister |
| 2 | jij / u (you) | drink-t | werk-t | luister-t |
| 3 | hij/zij/het (he/she/it) | drink-t | werk-t | luister-t |
| 1 | wij (we) | drink-en | werk-en | luister-en |
| 2 | jullie (you guys) | drink-en | werk-en | luister-en |
| 3 | zij (they) | drink-en | werk-en | luister-en |
Luckily, using verbs in Dutch is totaal straightforward. You just modify the verb for the singular pronouns (ik, jij, hij / zij / het). Replicate what you in the above table and you'll grasp the real meaning of going Dutch.
Have you noticed that it's luisteren NAAR muziek? Just like in English, you listen TO music.
So far, so good? Top! Take a good look at the following table. See if you spot anything raar about it...
| 📖 | Persoon | het-en | kok-en | slap-en |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ik (I) | heet | kook | slaap |
| 2 | jij / u (you) | heet | kook-t | slaap-t |
| 3 | hij/zij/het (he/she/it) | heet | kook-t | slaap-t |
| 1 | wij (we) | heten | koken | slapen |
| 2 | jullie (you guys) | heten | koken | slapen |
| 3 | zij (they) | heten | koken | slapen |
Do you know what's happening? Long vowels want to stay long. The difference between short and long vowels is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT in Dutch, kijk eens:
| Short vowel | Example | Long vowel | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a (father) | man (man) | aa (taxi) | maan (moon) |
| e (bed) | pen (pen) | ee (say) | peen (carrot) |
| i (kid) | vis (fish) | ie (bee) | vies (dirty) |
| o (bought) | pot (pot) | oo (go) | poot (paw / leg) |
| u (book) | bus (bus) | uu (-) | uur (hour) |
Think of consonants as walls - When a solitary vowel tries to go forward and finds a consonant wall, and no friends on the other side, it becomes short (eg. man, dat, ben, dit, op, grun). That's why it may call a friend to push the consonant together and become long again. Because vowels are true to their roots. Long stays long. Short stays short.
I strongly recommend keeping a cheatsheet with short & long vowels and references of English words with those sounds by your side AT ALL TIMES. Without this, you'll end up falling into the house with the door.
Let's do a drill with mixed verbs...
Now let's focus on the key questions and answers you should be able to understand and say ASAP:
Would you be able to explain what you learned in your own words? How would you summarise Dutch verb conjugation? Test yourself with the flashcards!
| 📖 | Persoon | lev-en | gev-en | lez-en | kiez-en |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ik | leef | geef | lees | kies |
| 2 | jij / u | leef-t | geef-t | lees-t | kies-t |
| 3 | hij / zij / het | leef-t | geef-t | lees-t | kies-t |
| 1 | wij | leven | geven | lezen | kiezen |
| 2 | jullie | leven | geven | lezen | kiezen |
| 3 | zij | leven | geven | lezen | kiezen |
Have you noticed? English does this too in words like knife → knives or leaf → leaves. Wat gek!
Keep a separate column in your note-toolbox for verbs that double their vowel (loop, lees, koop) and another for verbs that swap a consonant. Two neat drawers — that's what a useful notes toolbox looks like.
🪖 Ready for an army of double vowels and consonant swaps? Kom, we doen het!
🧱 DOUBLE CONSONANTS
Another thing the Dutch hate is unnecessary double consonants If a vowel is already trapped between two walls with no friends on the other side to assist their escape to long-vowel freedom... Why would you waste bricks building a double wall? Doe normaal!
In Dutch you don't say "I like to eat pizza". It's "I eat graag pizza".
Explain Dutch verb conjugation and the three odd patterns we covered (double vowel, consonant shift, consonant ellipsis) in your own words.
Measure your progress with the flashcards!
| 📖 | Persoon | zijn | hebben | gaan | doen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ik | ben | heb | ga | doe |
| 2 | jij / u | bent | hebt | gaat | doet |
| 3 | hij / zij / het | is | heeft | gaat | doet |
| 1 | wij | zijn | hebben | gaan | doen |
| 2 | jullie | zijn | hebben | gaan | doen |
| 3 | zij | zijn | hebben | gaan | doen |
Pay special attention to zijn and hebben. These guys will be your bread and butter, mijn vriend.
Some of these words are SO similar to English, right? Zoom in on the similarities and differences to leverage them.
🔀 JIJ-INVERSIONS
You may or may have not noticed this, but verbs before the word "jij" drop their -t. This is the quirkiest aspect of Dutch. It's probably got a phonetic explanation...
The fastest way to get used to dropping the -t in inversions is by practising ping-pong sentences (eg. Jij komt uit Nederland. Kom je uit Amsterdam?)
🤌🏽 MODAL VERBS
These guys are very quirky, because we generally use them together with another verb (eg. I can/must COOK something). Another reason they're interesting is that in both English and Dutch they have the same conjugation for I, you and he/she/it. Quite the anomaly!
| 📖 | Persoon | kunnen | willen | mogen | moeten |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ik | kan | wil | mag | moet |
| 2 | jij / u | kan | wil | mag | moet |
| 3 | hij / zij / het | kan | wil | mag | moet |
| 1 | wij | kunnen | willen | mogen | moeten |
| 2 | jullie | kunnen | willen | mogen | moeten |
| 3 | zij | kunnen | willen | mogen | moeten |
Test yourself: can you conjugate the twelve verbs from this module out loud within 30 seconds, without thinking? If not, keep repeating them with the flashcards for a few more days before moving on.
This entire lesson was about verb conjugation. In languages like Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian, we need to adjust the ending - and sometimes the stem - of each verb depending on who's performing the action. In Dutch, that pattern is surprisingly tidy — really just two forms on top of the bare stem. Godzijdank it's this manageable! It could have been a lot worse...
It may not sound glamorous, but getting comfortable with conjugation early on is one of the highest-leverage things you can do right now. Almost every sentence you'll ever say or hear in Dutch contains a verb. If you don't immediately recognise who's carrying out that verb, you'll be left standing there met je mond vol tanden (speechless).
Once you've internalised the pattern, you stop thinking about it. One day you'll notice you just feel what sounds right and wrong. That's the moment speaking starts to feel natural.
If you're able to explain this in your own words and confidently interact with Callum in the following video, you're ready to move on to the next lesson!
Right away!
Post one sentence in Dutch using a verb from today's lesson. Make it about a real person in your life — your partner, a friend, a colleague. Make sure to conjugate it correctly! 😉
💬 "Mijn baas praat veel."
💬 "Mijn vriend gaat graag naar Amsterdam."
Which words or sentences from this lesson are you struggling to pronounce the most?
Which sentence(s) from this lesson were you able to use with a real person this week?
Share a photo of your lesson summary. Let's see who's keeping the tidiest toolbox!
Did you have 3 focused sessions this week? What did you do in each one?
