A conditional sentence pairs a condition ("if X") with a consequence ("then Y"). Dutch, like English, sorts them by how real the condition is, into three types: real conditions you treat as live possibilities (Als het regent, blijf ik thuis — "If it rains, I'll stay home"), unreal-present conditions that are contrary to how things are now (Als ik rijk was, zou ik reizen — "If I were rich, I'd travel"), and unreal-past conditions contrary to what already happened (Als ik het had geweten... — "If I had known..."). The condition is normally introduced by als, but Dutch also offers the formal indien, the special-purpose mits and tenzij, an optional resuming dan, and a slick conjunction-less inversion English can't copy. Two word-order facts run through everything: the als-clause sends its verb to the end, and a fronted als-clause inverts the main clause.
Type 1 — Real conditions: present + present
When the condition is a genuine open possibility, both clauses stay in the present tense (Dutch happily uses the present for the future here). The als-clause is subordinate, so its verb goes last; when the als-clause comes first, the main clause inverts.
Als het regent, blijf ik thuis.
If it rains, I'll stay home. — present in both; main clause inverts to 'blijf ik' after the fronted als-clause.
Als je honger hebt, is er nog soep.
If you're hungry, there's still soup. — 'hebt' final in the als-clause; 'is er' inverted.
Ik bel je als ik aankom.
I'll call you when I arrive. — als-clause second, so no inversion; 'aankom' still goes last.
You can also push the consequence into the explicit future with zullen or gaan if you want to stress it — Als het regent, zal ik wel thuisblijven — but the plain present is the unmarked, most common choice.
Type 2 — Unreal present: past tense + zou
When the condition is contrary to current fact — you are not rich, but you're imagining it — Dutch backshifts the als-clause into the simple past (this is the past tense doing "irrealis" duty, just like English "if I were") and uses zou + infinitive in the main clause.
Als ik rijk was, zou ik de hele wereld rondreizen.
If I were rich, I'd travel all around the world. — past 'was' for the unreal condition; 'zou ... rondreizen' in the main clause.
Als ik jou was, zou ik even wachten.
If I were you, I'd wait a bit. — the classic advice frame.
Als we meer tijd hadden, gingen we vaker langs.
If we had more time, we'd drop by more often. — note: the main clause can also just use the simple past ('gingen') instead of 'zou'.
That last example shows a quieter option: in the main clause of an unreal-present, Dutch sometimes uses a bare simple past instead of zou (gingen we rather than zouden we ... gaan), especially with common verbs. It's idiomatic but optional; zou is always safe. The zou-machinery itself is detailed on The Conditional with Zou(den).
Type 3 — Unreal past: the counterfactual
When the condition is contrary to what already happened, both clauses move to the pluperfect, and the main clause may keep the bare pluperfect or switch to zou + perfect infinitive. Because this type has real subtleties (the symmetric had ..., had ..., the IPP clusters), it has its own page — here is just the shape so you can place it among the three.
Als ik het had geweten, was ik gekomen.
If I'd known, I would have come. — pluperfect in both clauses.
Als je eerder had gebeld, had ik kunnen helpen.
If you'd called earlier, I could have helped.
For the full treatment — including the zou-alternative and the verb clusters — see Unreal Past Conditionals.
The resuming dan
After a fronted als-clause, Dutch often inserts dan ("then") at the head of the main clause: Als het kan, dan doe ik het ("If it's possible, then I'll do it"). The dan is optional — Als het kan, doe ik het is equally correct — but it's extremely common in speech, where it gives the listener a clear "now here comes the consequence" signal. Crucially, dan still counts as the first element of the main clause, so the verb stays in second position right after it.
Als het lukt, dan trakteer ik.
If it works out, then it's my treat. — 'dan' fills slot one, 'trakteer' stays second.
Als je het niet weet, dan vraag je het gewoon.
If you don't know, then you just ask. — optional 'dan' resuming the main clause.
English can use "then" the same way, but Dutch leans on it more heavily and it pairs naturally with the inversion below.
Dropping als: the conjunction-less inversion
This is the move English doesn't have. Dutch can delete als entirely and instead signal the condition by inverting the would-be als-clause — putting the verb first, as in a yes/no question. Regent het, dan blijf ik thuis means exactly Als het regent, dan blijf ik thuis ("If it rains, I'll stay home"), but it's crisper and a little more vivid. The fronted dan in the main clause is almost obligatory in this pattern, because it marks the boundary the missing als used to.
Regent het, dan blijf ik thuis.
If it rains, I'll stay home. — 'als' dropped; the verb-first 'Regent het' carries the condition.
Heb je vragen, dan kun je me altijd bellen.
If you have questions, you can always call me. — common, slightly brisk register.
Had ik dat geweten, dan was ik nooit gegaan.
Had I known that, I'd never have gone. — the same trick on an unreal-past condition.
This is the same mechanism behind the wish Had ik dat maar geweten! — fronting the verb instead of using als. It belongs to the wider topic of Inversion, and it's a register tool: it sounds a touch more formal or rhetorical than the plain als-version, and is common in writing, signage, and confident speech.
The other conjunctions: indien, mits, tenzij
Als is the everyday workhorse, but three others carve out specific niches. All of them are subordinating conjunctions, so they send the clause's verb to the end, just like als.
| Conjunction | Meaning | Register / use |
|---|---|---|
| als | if | neutral, by far the most common |
| indien | if | (formal) — contracts, official notices, written rules |
| mits | provided that, on condition that | a necessary condition: only if this holds |
| tenzij | unless | the negative condition: except if |
Indien u niet tevreden bent, kunt u het product retourneren.
If you are not satisfied, you may return the product. — (formal) 'indien', typical of written notices.
Je mag mee, mits je op tijd bent.
You can come along, provided you're on time. — 'mits' = the condition must be met.
We gaan naar het strand, tenzij het regent.
We're going to the beach, unless it rains. — 'tenzij' = the one thing that would stop us.
A useful pairing: mits (only if) and tenzij (unless) are near-opposites — mits states what must be true, tenzij states the exception that would override the plan. These, along with concessive conjunctions like hoewel, are explored further on Conditional and Concessive Conjunctions.
Common Mistakes
❌ Als het regent, ik blijf thuis.
No inversion — a fronted als-clause forces the verb before the subject in the main clause.
✅ Als het regent, blijf ik thuis.
If it rains, I'll stay home.
❌ Als ik ben rijk, zou ik reizen.
Two errors — the als-clause verb must go last, and an unreal-present condition uses the past tense.
✅ Als ik rijk was, zou ik reizen.
If I were rich, I'd travel.
❌ Als het kan, dan ik doe het.
After 'dan' the verb still must be second — 'dan' is just slot one.
✅ Als het kan, dan doe ik het.
If it's possible, then I'll do it.
❌ Als regent het, blijf ik thuis.
If you drop 'als' you must invert; if you keep 'als' the verb goes last — you can't have both.
✅ Regent het, dan blijf ik thuis. / Als het regent, blijf ik thuis.
If it rains, I'll stay home. — two valid versions.
❌ We gaan naar het strand, tenzij het regent niet.
'Tenzij' already means 'unless' (= if not); adding 'niet' double-negates it.
✅ We gaan naar het strand, tenzij het regent.
We're going to the beach unless it rains.
Key Takeaways
- Three types: real (present + present), unreal-present (past + zou), unreal-past (pluperfect + pluperfect/zou). Match the tense to the reality.
- The als-clause sends its verb to the end; a fronted als-clause inverts the main clause (blijf ik, not ik blijf).
- dan optionally resumes the main clause (Als het kan, dan doe ik het) and still counts as slot one.
- You can drop als and invert instead (Regent het, dan blijf ik thuis) — a register/rhythm tool English lacks.
- indien (formal "if"), mits (provided that), tenzij (unless) are subordinating conjunctions too — verb to the end.
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The Conditional with Zou(den)B1 — Zou is the past of zullen and the engine of Dutch 'would' — present/future hypotheticals, reported future, softened opinions, and above all the politeness formula zou + willen/kunnen that turns a blunt request into a courteous one.
- Unreal Past Conditionals (Als ik ... had geweten)B2 — For counterfactuals about the past — what would have happened if things had gone differently — Dutch can run the pluperfect in BOTH clauses (had..., had...) or use zou + perfect infinitive; the bare double-pluperfect is the more natural spoken form, and the verb cluster gets thorny with three verbs.
- Conditional and Concessive: Als, Tenzij, Hoewel, AlB1 — How Dutch builds 'if', 'unless', 'although' and 'even though' clauses — and why one of them, al, breaks the verb-final rule and forces inversion instead.
- Inversion After a Fronted ElementA2 — When anything but the subject opens a Dutch main clause, the subject and finite verb swap — including the hallmark 'verb-comma-verb' collision after a fronted subordinate clause.
- Verb-Final Order in Subordinate ClausesA2 — After a subordinating conjunction, relative pronoun, or question word, the entire verb cluster — including the finite verb — moves to the end of the clause.
- The Future: Zullen vs Gaan vs the PresentB1 — Dutch has three ways to talk about the future — zullen (modal: prediction, promise, offer), gaan (a plan or something imminent), and the plain present with a time word (the neutral default) — and 'will' maps cleanly onto none of them.