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'Short'    Building Sentences, Word Order 14: Ongoing Activity
Read and listen to the examples below to memorize the patterns 't Regent 2 3 4 It [rains] is raining De zon schijnt The sun [shines] is shining English uses 'to be' with a present participle to show an activity is ongoing. The Dutch (de) duurvorm 2 is different and it's only used for people. Ze lagen te slapen They were sleeping Ik zit te denken aan een cadeau I'm thinking of a present Hij stond te praten met Piet He was talking to Piet Er loopt een dronken man te schreeuwen 2 There's a drunk guy shouting So to say that an activity is (or was) ongoing the verbs 'zitten' (to sit, to be seated), 'liggen' 2 (to lie, be lying down), 'staan' (to stand, to be standing) and 'lopen' 2 (to walk) combine with te and a verb infinitive. There is not always an activity like in the regular meaning, and verbs are not combined with themselves (no 'ik loop te lopen.') Ik lig te lezen I'm reading Lekker lui liggen lezen Enjoying a lazy read Hij ligt te etteren 2 He's engaging in provocative, useless talk or actions, making a nuisance of himself - obnoxious, being a pest (probably not lying down while doing that) We zitten te eten [We're eating] - We're having dinner (or lunch) Ik zat te wachten op een telefoontje I was waiting for a phone call Ze zit erop te wachten 2 3 [She's sitting around waiting for it] - she expects or needs it soon We zaten gezellig te praten 2 We were having a pleasant conversation, a nice chat Hij zit te zwammen He's talking nonsense Hij zit te zeuren 2 He is nagging, talking about irrelevant things in a very annoying way Zit niet zo te zeuren! 2 Now stop that nagging! Ik zit te vernikkelen 2 I'm freezing, I'm terribly cold Hij zit te niksen 2 3 He's doing nothing, idling, he's lazing about Ik sta nergens meer van te kijken 2 Nothing [is surprising] surprises me anymore Dat staat ons ook te wachten 2 That is waiting for us too, we can expect that too Er staat iemand bijbels uit te delen 2 There's a guy handing out bibles We staan te wachten op een taxi 2 3 We're waiting for a taxi Hij loopt te schelden He is swearing, cursing out We liepen naar de vogels te luisteren 2 We were listening to the birds The Dutch 'continuous' is not often used in the perfect tensesy - but when it does there is not a past participle but an infinitive. Hij heeft de hele middag zitten typen 2 He has been typing all afternoon Hij heeft de hele week lopen klagen 2 He's been complaining all week There is another, much less common way to indicate an ongoing activity with 'zijn' ('to be' ->>) and "aan 't" 2 with a verb infinitive Wat ben je aan 't doen? What are you doing, what are you working on, busy with? Wat ben ik aan 't doen? 2 3 What am I doing? (I get a feeling it's wrong) Ik ben een brood aan 't bakken 2 I'm baking bread Ik was aan 't winkelen I was shopping A Dutch Continuous / Progressive zitten - liggen - staan - lopen Shorts      More Previous / Next      email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2025. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed, or hotlinked to. Gij zult niet stelen 'Thou shalt not steal'