In the simple present tense, Dutch verbs have three forms:
- the verb stem for the first person singular
(I - ik)
- the verb stem
+ t for the second and third person singular
(you / he/she/it - jij/U / hij/zij/het)
- the verb stem
+ en (= the infinitive)
for the plural
(we/you/they - wij/jullie/zij)
For instance, drinken
'to drink'
|
| drinken |
|
to drink |
| ik drink |
|
I drink |
| jij drinkt |
|
you drink (singular, informal you) |
| hij drinkt |
|
he drinks |
| wij drinken |
|
we drink |
| jullie drinken |
|
you drink (plural, informal you) |
| zij drinken |
|
they drink |
| U drinkt |
|
you drink (polite you) |
 |
|
|
![[Marco drinking tea]](artwork4/MarcoDrinkt150_3.jpg) ik drink
2
I am drinking |
When the verb is placed before the subject, like in questions,
there is no T added for
the second person singular, for instance:
Drink je alcohol?
2
3
Do you drink alcohol?
![[I'm laughing]](artwork3/iklach200.jpg) ik lach
I'm laughing |
|
ik
('I') |
jij
/ je
('you' - singular informal) |
hij
('he') -
zij
/ ze
('she') -
het
/ 't
('it') |
wij
/ we
('we') |
jullie
('you, you guys, y'all' - plural informal) |
zij
/ ze
('they') |
U
('you' - formal, polite) |
|
- short
personal pronouns |
| Verb stems ending in T do not add extra T's |
| wachten |
|
to wait |
| ik wacht |
|
I'm waiting |
| jij wacht |
|
you're waiting (singular, informal you) |
| hij wacht |
|
he's waiting |
| wij wachten |
|
we're waiting |
| jullie wachten |
|
y'all are waiting (plural, informal you) |
| zij wachten |
|
they are i waitng |
| U wacht |
|
you are waiting (polite you) |
2
|
|