Nederlands Grammar
Complete grammar guide from beginner to intermediate
Master Dutch grammar from beginner to intermediate level. Our comprehensive guide covers A1, A2, and B1 grammar topics with clear explanations, conjugation tables, and practical examples to help you speak and write Dutch correctly.
Beginner
Basic grammar rules, simple sentence structures, and essential verb forms.
Nouns & Articles
Learn Dutch articles de and het, noun genders, and how to form plurals with -en and -s endings.
Present Tense
Master Dutch present tense verb conjugation. Learn how to form the stem, add endings, and use common regular and irregular verbs in everyday sentences.
Personal Pronouns
Master Dutch personal pronouns including subject, object, and the formal u form for polite address.
Articles (de and het)
Learn the Dutch definite articles 'de' and 'het', plus the indefinite article 'een'. Understanding which nouns take de vs het is essential for correct Dutch.
Present Tense Verbs
Conjugate Dutch verbs in present tense with stem + endings and learn essential irregular verbs zijn, hebben, gaan.
Word Order
Master Dutch V2 word order where the verb always comes second, and understand time-manner-place sequence.
Elementary
Past tenses, comparatives, and more complex sentence structures.
Past Tense
Form Dutch past tense using the imperfectum (-te/-de) for ongoing past and perfectum (hebben/zijn + past participle) for completed actions.
Present Perfect Tense
Connect past actions to the present using the Dutch present perfect (voltooid tegenwoordige tijd). Form it with 'hebben' or 'zijn' plus the past participle. This tense is commonly used in spoken Dutch to describe past events.
Adjective Agreement
Master Dutch adjective inflection with -e endings based on article type, noun gender, and position in the sentence.
Possessives
Express ownership in Dutch using possessive pronouns mijn, jouw, zijn, haar and learn about stressed vs unstressed forms.
Possessive Pronouns
Replace nouns with possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers) in Dutch. These standalone pronouns help avoid repetition in sentences and are essential for natural conversation. Learn the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns.
Prepositions (Location & Direction)
Master Dutch prepositions for expressing location and direction. Learn the key prepositions like in, op, aan, naar, and van, and understand when to use each one. Dutch prepositions often differ from English in surprising ways, making them essential to study carefully.
Intermediate
Subjunctive mood, passive voice, and advanced grammar concepts.
Future Tense
Express future actions in Dutch using zullen + infinitive, gaan + infinitive, and present tense with time markers.
Subjunctive & Conditional
Express hypothetical situations in Dutch using zou + infinitive and conditional structures with als.
Relative Clauses
Connect ideas in Dutch using relative pronouns die, dat, wat and understand proper word order in subordinate clauses.
Passive Voice
Form passive constructions in Dutch using worden + past participle and zijn + past participle for different contexts.
Reported Speech
Report what others said in Dutch using dat-clauses and learn the tense and pronoun shifts.
Past Perfect Tense
Learn the Dutch past perfect tense (voltooid verleden tijd) to describe actions that happened before another past event. Master the formation with had + past participle for clear storytelling.