Zien ("to see") is one of the most frequent verbs in Dutch and one you can't fake your way around, because almost every form is irregular. The infinitive ends in -ien (a vanishingly rare shape — only zien and a handful of relatives have it), the present tense contracts to zie/ziet, and the past zag/zagen comes straight out of the strong-verb system, parallel to English see / saw. On top of the paradigm, zien carries a piece of syntax English speakers consistently get wrong: as a perception verb it takes a bare infinitive (Ik zie hem komen, "I see him come"), and in the perfect that infinitive triggers a double infinitive (Ik heb hem zien komen). This page lays out every form and that crucial construction.
Principal parts
These four forms generate everything else. Zien is a strong, irregular verb: the past changes the vowel (ie → a) rather than adding -te/-de, and the stem itself is contracted, so you memorise it outright.
| Infinitive | Simple past (sg.) | Past participle | Perfect auxiliary |
|---|---|---|---|
| zien | zag | gezien | hebben |
Classification: strong / irregular. The vowel alternation zie → zag → gezien marks it as strong (an ablaut verb, like geven/gaf/gegeven), but the contracted stem and the -ien infinitive make it irregular enough that most reference grammars list it among the irregulars.
Present tense
The stem is zie, and hij/zij/het simply adds -t to give ziet. Because the stem already ends in a long -ie, there is no spelling adjustment — what you hear is what you write.
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik | zie | I see |
| jij / je | ziet | you see |
| u | ziet | you see (formal) |
| hij / zij / het | ziet | he / she / it sees |
| wij / we | zien | we see |
| jullie | zien | you (pl.) see |
| zij / ze | zien | they see |
When jij follows the verb (in a question or after a fronted element), the -t drops: zie jij?, never ziet jij. With u the -t stays: ziet u?.
Ik zie je morgen op kantoor.
I'll see you tomorrow at the office. The 'ik' form is 'zie' — no -t.
Simple past: zag and zagen
The past is the strong form zag (singular) / zagen (plural). The vowel jumps from ie to a — exactly the leap English makes in see → saw. There is no -te/-de ending anywhere; if you find yourself writing ziede or zagde, stop.
| Person | Past form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik / jij / u / hij / zij / het | zag | saw |
| wij / jullie / zij (pl.) | zagen | saw |
Ik zag haar gisteren nog in de supermarkt.
I saw her in the supermarket just yesterday. Singular past 'zag'.
The perfect: hebben + gezien
Zien builds its perfect with hebben (it describes an activity, not a motion or change of state), plus the participle gezien. The participle takes the regular ge- prefix on the strong stem: ge- + zien → gezien.
| Person | Perfect | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik | heb gezien | I have seen |
| jij / u | hebt gezien | you have seen |
| hij / zij / het | heeft gezien | he/she/it has seen |
| wij / jullie / zij | hebben gezien | we/you/they have seen |
Heb je die nieuwe film al gezien?
Have you seen that new film yet? Auxiliary 'heb' + participle 'gezien'.
Imperative
The imperative is the bare stem zie — but in practice you rarely command someone to literally see. It survives mainly in fixed, slightly elevated expressions: Zie je wel! ("See? / I told you so!"), Zie hier ("Behold / see here", literary), and bureaucratic Zie pagina 12 ("See page 12").
| Form | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
| Zie! | bare imperative (rare, literary) | See! / Behold! |
| Zie je wel. | everyday phrase (informal) | See? I told you so. |
| Zie pagina 12. | written reference (formal) | See page 12. |
Perception verb: bare infinitive
Here is the part English speakers must drill. When zien reports what you perceive someone doing, the other verb appears as a bare infinitive with no te — just like English "see him come", not "see him to come". The structure is zien + object + infinitive.
Ik zie de buurman elke ochtend de hond uitlaten.
I see the neighbour walk the dog every morning. 'uitlaten' is a bare infinitive after 'zie'.
We zagen het vliegtuig laag overvliegen.
We saw the plane fly over low. Bare infinitive 'overvliegen' after the past 'zagen'.
The double infinitive in the perfect
This is the construction that trips up nearly every learner. When that perception clause goes into the perfect, zien does not become its participle gezien. Instead it stays an infinitive, and you get two infinitives stacked at the end: heb + object + zien + infinitive. This "infinitivus pro participio" (an infinitive standing in for the expected participle) shows up with all the perception and modal verbs.
Ik heb hem gisteren langs zien fietsen.
I saw him cycle past yesterday. Perfect = 'heb ... zien fietsen', NOT 'heb ... gezien fietsen'.
Three model sentences
These three cover zien's core jobs: simple perception, the perception-plus-infinitive frame, and the perfect.
Vanaf het balkon zie je de hele stad liggen.
From the balcony you can see the whole city laid out. Present 'zie' + bare infinitive 'liggen'.
Ze zag meteen dat er iets mis was.
She immediately saw that something was wrong. Past 'zag' introducing a 'dat'-clause.
Sorry, ik had je niet zien staan!
Sorry, I didn't see you standing there! Double infinitive 'zien staan' under the past auxiliary 'had'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik ziede een mooie zonsondergang.
Incorrect — zien is strong; the past is 'zag', never the weak '*ziede'.
✅ Ik zag een mooie zonsondergang.
I saw a beautiful sunset.
❌ Wij zag het ongeluk gebeuren.
Incorrect — a plural subject needs the plural past 'zagen'.
✅ Wij zagen het ongeluk gebeuren.
We saw the accident happen.
❌ Ik heb hem gezien komen.
Incorrect — in a perception perfect, zien stays an infinitive: 'heb hem zien komen'.
✅ Ik heb hem zien komen.
I saw him coming.
❌ Ik zie hem te komen.
Incorrect — perception verbs take a BARE infinitive, with no 'te'.
✅ Ik zie hem komen.
I see him coming.
❌ Ziet jij dat bord daar?
Incorrect — when 'jij' follows the verb it drops the -t: 'Zie jij...'.
✅ Zie jij dat bord daar?
Do you see that sign over there?
Key Takeaways
- Present: ik zie, jij/u ziet, hij/zij/het ziet, wij/jullie/zij zien; inverted jij drops the -t (zie jij?).
- Past is strong: singular zag, plural zagen — vowel change ie → a, no -te/-de.
- Perfect: heb gezien with hebben and the participle gezien.
- Perception use takes a bare infinitive: Ik zie hem komen.
- In the perception perfect, zien becomes a double infinitive: Ik heb hem zien komen, never gezien komen.
Now practice Dutch
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