English and Dutch line up on most tenses, which makes this difference especially sneaky. To say how long something has been going on and is still going on, English uses the present perfect: "I have lived here for three years," "She has worked here since 2020." Dutch does the opposite: for an ongoing state that started in the past and continues up to now, Dutch uses the simple present — "Ik woon hier al drie jaar." Calquing the English perfect (Ik heb hier drie jaar gewoond) is grammatical, but it tells the listener the state is finished — you don't live there anymore. This page drills the right tense for duration.
The rule: ongoing duration → simple present
If a situation began in the past and is still true now, Dutch describes it in the present tense, usually with a marker like al ("already/for"), sinds ("since"), or nu ... al. The logic is that the situation is part of the present reality, so the present tense fits.
Ik woon hier al drie jaar.
I've lived here for three years (and still do). Present tense 'woon' + 'al' for ongoing duration.
Zij werkt hier sinds 2020.
She has worked here since 2020 (still works here). Present 'werkt' + 'sinds'.
To an English ear "I live here for three years" sounds broken — but that mismatch is exactly the point. Dutch genuinely uses the present here.
Why the perfect means "ended" here
The Dutch present perfect (ik heb gewoond, zij heeft gewerkt) presents the situation as a completed whole, viewed from now. So when you attach a duration to it, you're saying that completed stretch is over. The contrast is sharp:
Ik heb drie jaar in Utrecht gewoond.
I lived in Utrecht for three years (but I've since moved away). Perfect = the period is finished.
Ik woon al drie jaar in Utrecht.
I've lived in Utrecht for three years (and I still live there). Present = still ongoing.
Same three years, opposite meanings. The tense alone carries the difference between "still here" and "no longer here." Choosing the wrong one quietly misinforms your listener.
| Situation | Dutch tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| started in the past, still ongoing | simple present | Ik werk hier al vijf jaar. |
| happened in the past, now ended | present perfect | Ik heb hier vijf jaar gewerkt. |
The markers: al, sinds, nu ... al
The ongoing-duration present almost always carries a little signpost that makes the "up to now" reading explicit.
al ("already" / "for [so long] now") with a stretch of time:
We kennen elkaar al tien jaar.
We've known each other for ten years (and still do). 'al' + duration.
sinds ("since") with a starting point:
Hij is sinds maandag ziek.
He's been ill since Monday (still ill). Present 'is' + 'sinds' + start point.
nu ... al for emphasis on the running total:
Ik wacht nu al een half uur op de bus.
I've been waiting for the bus for half an hour now. Present 'wacht' + 'nu al'.
Dropping the marker is itself a common mistake — without al or sinds, Ik woon hier drie jaar sounds incomplete or oddly like a plan. The marker is what licenses the duration reading.
English "for" vs Dutch — and "sinds" vs "voor"
A second trap hides inside the prepositions. English "for + duration" with the present perfect should become a Dutch present with al (or just a bare duration with al), and English "since + point" becomes sinds. Do not use Dutch voor for an ongoing duration — voor means "before" or marks a forward-looking stretch (Ik ga voor twee weken weg = "I'm going away for two weeks"), never "for the past X up to now." (And "ago" is geleden, not voor.)
Ze is al een uur aan het bellen.
She's been on the phone for an hour. Use 'al een uur', not 'voor een uur'.
Ik heb hem een week geleden voor het laatst gezien.
I last saw him a week ago. ('geleden' = ago; contrast with the ongoing cases above.)
Negative ongoing duration
The same logic holds for "haven't ... in" / "for". English "I haven't seen him for years" is, in Dutch, often a present with al — though here Dutch does also allow a perfect because the not-seeing is itself ongoing. The cleanest ongoing form stays present:
Ik heb hem al jaren niet gezien.
I haven't seen him in years. (Ongoing not-seeing; Dutch keeps 'al jaren'.)
Ik rook al vijf jaar niet meer.
I haven't smoked for five years (and still don't). Present 'rook' for the ongoing non-smoking state.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik heb hier drie jaar gewoond.
Incorrect if you still live here — the perfect means the period has ended. For an ongoing state use the present.
✅ Ik woon hier al drie jaar.
I've lived here for three years (and still do).
❌ Zij heeft hier sinds 2020 gewerkt.
Incorrect if she still works here — use the present with 'sinds'.
✅ Zij werkt hier sinds 2020.
She's worked here since 2020.
❌ Ik leer Nederlands voor twee jaar.
Two errors: 'voor' is wrong for ongoing duration, and the present needs 'al'.
✅ Ik leer al twee jaar Nederlands.
I've been learning Dutch for two years.
❌ We zijn getrouwd sinds tien jaar geweest.
Incorrect — for a marriage that's still going, use the simple present 'zijn' with 'al'.
✅ We zijn al tien jaar getrouwd.
We've been married for ten years.
❌ Hij wacht hier een uur.
Incomplete/ambiguous — without 'al' it doesn't convey 'has been waiting'. Add the marker.
✅ Hij wacht hier al een uur.
He's been waiting here for an hour.
Key Takeaways
- For a state that started in the past and still continues, Dutch uses the simple present — not the perfect.
- The perfect with a duration (Ik heb hier drie jaar gewoond) means the state is over.
- Mark the ongoing reading with al ("for ... now") or sinds ("since"); dropping the marker sounds incomplete.
- Don't use voor for ongoing duration — that's not what it means; use al
- duration, or sinds
- start point.
- duration, or sinds
- The tense alone tells your listener "still true" vs "finished," so the choice carries real meaning.
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- Duration: Sinds, Sedert, Al, Pas, OverB1 — Dutch handles 'since', 'for', 'already', 'only just' and 'in (the future)' with a small cluster of words that behave very differently from English — and the single biggest difference is tense: with sinds and al, an ongoing situation that started in the past stays in the PRESENT (Ik woon hier al drie jaar = 'I have lived here for three years'). This page maps sinds, the formal sedert, the durational al, the 'only just' pas, and the future-looking over and binnen.
- Common Mistakes English Speakers Make: OverviewA2 — A map of the recurring errors English speakers make in Dutch — V2 word-order slips, de/het gender, niet vs geen, false friends, the hebben/zijn auxiliary, omdat vs want order, and English calques like do-support and the progressive. Each is previewed with a one-line example and linked to its dedicated page.
- Mistake: 'Moet niet' for 'Don't Have To'B1 — English 'don't have to' does NOT translate as 'moet niet' — that means 'must not' (a prohibition). The Dutch for 'don't have to' is 'hoeft niet te'. This page drills the difference between absence of obligation and prohibition, and the 'te' that learners drop.
- Mistake: Using 'Zijn' Instead of Staan/Liggen/ZittenB1 — English uses 'to be' for where things are ('the book is on the table'), but Dutch almost always picks a posture verb — staan, liggen, zitten, or hangen — chosen by the object's orientation. Using plain 'zijn' for location sounds distinctly foreign. This page drills which verb to use.