This is a practical page: how to talk about your daily life right now. The good news for a beginner is enormous — Dutch has one present tense, and it does all the jobs English splits across "I work," "I am working," and "I do work." So once you can conjugate the present (see verbs/present/regular), you can already describe your whole routine. Here we put that one tense to work for habits, current states, and the things you do every day, and we knock out two English reflexes that trip learners up: reaching for an "-ing" and reaching for "do."
The present for daily habits
Use the plain present for anything you do regularly. No special tense, no helper verb — just the conjugated verb.
Ik sta om zeven uur op.
I get up at seven o'clock. — daily routine in the plain present; 'opstaan' is separable, so 'op' goes to the end.
Ik drink elke ochtend koffie.
I drink coffee every morning. — habitual action, plain present, no '-ing'.
Hij fietst naar zijn werk.
He cycles to work. — a regular habit, stated simply.
Notice Ik sta ... op: opstaan ("to get up") is a separable verb, so its prefix op jumps to the end of the sentence. That's normal and very common in routine descriptions (opstaan, aankleden, weggaan). For now, just copy the pattern: verb in second position, the loose prefix at the end.
The present for what's happening right now
The very same form describes things going on at this moment. English would switch to "-ing" here; Dutch does not.
Wat doe je? — Ik lees een boek.
What are you doing? — I'm reading a book. — 'lees' is the plain present, but it means 'am reading' here.
Wacht even, ik kom eraan.
Hang on, I'm coming. — present tense for an action happening right now.
Het regent.
It's raining. — the bare present covers the in-progress 'is raining'.
So ik lees means both "I read (in general)" and "I'm reading (right now)" — context decides which, exactly as it does in your head when you hear "I read the paper." Dutch does have optional ways to stress the in-progress reading (ik ben aan het lezen; see verbs/progressive/aan-het), but at A1 you never need them. The plain present is always correct.
The present for current states and general truths
Ongoing situations — where you live, what you like, how things simply are — also take the present.
Ik woon in Utrecht.
I live in Utrecht. — a current state, plain present.
Zij heeft twee katten.
She has two cats. — a standing fact.
Water kookt bij honderd graden.
Water boils at a hundred degrees. — a general truth in the present.
Frequency adverbs: saying how often
To turn a verb into a habit with a frequency, drop in an adverb like altijd (always), vaak (often), soms (sometimes), or nooit (never). The usual spot is right after the verb (and after the subject if it stays first). See adverbs/frequency-adverbs-a1 for the full set and placement.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| altijd | always |
| meestal | usually |
| vaak | often |
| soms | sometimes |
| nooit | never |
Ik drink altijd thee bij het ontbijt.
I always drink tea at breakfast. — 'altijd' sits right after the verb.
We gaan soms op zondag wandelen.
We sometimes go for a walk on Sundays. — 'soms' marks the frequency.
Hij komt nooit te laat.
He's never late. — 'nooit' already makes the sentence negative; you don't add another 'not'.
A useful detail: nooit ("never") is already a negative, so you don't pair it with niet. Hij komt nooit te laat is complete — Hij komt nooit niet te laat would be wrong.
Negatives and questions: no "do"
This is where English habits cause real errors. English builds negatives and questions with do/does — but Dutch has no word for this "do" (see verbs/no-do-support). To say you don't do something, just add niet (or geen before a noun). The verb stays put.
Ik werk niet op zondag.
I don't work on Sundays. — just add 'niet'; there is no 'do not'.
Ik drink geen koffie.
I don't drink coffee. — 'geen' negates the noun; still no 'do'.
To ask a yes/no question, don't add "do" either — just put the verb first.
Werk je op zaterdag?
Do you work on Saturdays? — verb to the front; no 'do'. Note 'werk je', not 'werkt je'.
Woon je hier al lang?
Have you lived here long? / Do you live here long? — 'woon je' with the verb fronted.
One spelling point in questions: when je/jij follows the verb, the verb loses its -t. Statement je werkt becomes question werk je? — the -t drops because the subject now comes after the verb.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik ben werken elke dag.
Wrong — there's no '-ing' / 'am ...ing' in Dutch for routines (or anything else, by default).
✅ Ik werk elke dag.
I work every day. — one plain present form does it all.
❌ Doe je werken op zondag?
Wrong — Dutch has no 'do' to start a question; you just front the verb.
✅ Werk je op zondag?
Do you work on Sundays? — verb first, no 'do'.
❌ Ik doe niet werken op zondag.
Wrong — there's no 'do not'; negation is just 'niet'.
✅ Ik werk niet op zondag.
I don't work on Sundays. — add 'niet', keep the verb.
❌ Werkt je op zaterdag?
Wrong — after inversion, 'je' loses the verb's -t.
✅ Werk je op zaterdag?
Do you work on Saturdays? — 'werk je', not 'werkt je'.
❌ Hij komt nooit niet te laat.
Wrong — 'nooit' is already negative; don't add 'niet' as well.
✅ Hij komt nooit te laat.
He's never late. — one negative is enough.
Key Takeaways
- Dutch has one present tense for habits, current actions, current states, and general truths — it covers English "I work / I am working / I do work."
- Use frequency adverbs (altijd, vaak, soms, nooit) right after the verb to say how often.
- No "do": negate with niet/geen, and ask yes/no questions by putting the verb first.
- After inversion, je drops the verb's -t: je werkt → werk je?
- You never need a progressive at A1 — the plain present is always correct for "right now."
Now practice Dutch
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The Present Tense: Regular VerbsA1 — The stem+(t) system for regular Dutch verbs in the present tense — and the inversion rule that drops the -t when jij follows the verb.
- Using the Present Tense (Including the Future)A2 — Everything the Dutch simple present covers — habits, the live now, general truths, and, crucially, the everyday future a time word turns it into.
- No Do-Support: Questions and Negation Without 'Do'A1 — Dutch has no equivalent of English 'do/does/did'. Questions invert the verb, negation just adds niet/geen, and emphasis uses stress or 'wel' — so the 'do' reflex must be deleted, not translated.
- Frequency Adverbs: Altijd, Vaak, Soms, Nooit (A1)A1 — A beginner drill of the how-often words: altijd, meestal, vaak, soms, zelden, nooit, plus elke dag and één keer per week. They go in the middle of the sentence, right after the verb. And nooit already means 'never' — you never add niet.
- The Progressive: Aan het + Infinitive and Positional ConstructionsB1 — Dutch has several optional ways to stress that an action is in progress — aan het + infinitive, the posture verbs zitten/staan/liggen te, and bezig zijn — but none is obligatory, because the plain present already covers ongoing action.