To express continuous actions in the perfect tense, Dutch uses a special structure with posture verbs.
Posture Verbs and the Double Infinitive
In Dutch, to say you were doing something while standing, sitting, or lying down, combine a posture verb (staan, zitten, or liggen) with an action verb.
When you put this combination into the perfect tense (e.g., "have been standing waiting"), Dutch uses a "double infinitive" instead of a past participle. Conjugate the auxiliary verb (hebben) and push the two infinitive verbs to the very end of the sentence. The posture verb always comes immediately before the action verb.
| They have been standing waiting for the celebrity for hours. | Ze hebben uren op de beroemdheid staan wachten. |
Sitting and Lying in Wait
This rule applies to all posture verbs, such as sitting and peeking (zitten gluren) or lying and lurking (liggen loeren):
| During the night, he was sitting peeking at the driveway. | Tijdens de nacht heeft hij naar de oprit zitten gluren. |
| We have been lying lurking at the driveway with a large lens. | We hebben met een grote lens naar de oprit liggen loeren. |
Word Order in Questions
In a question, the conjugated auxiliary verb moves to the front of the sentence, but the double infinitive stays anchored at the very end.
| Why have you been sitting peeking at the celebrity? | Waarom heb jij naar de beroemdheid zitten gluren? |
More Posture Actions
The double infinitive perfectly captures the long hours paparazzi spend waiting in a single posture for a scoop (de primeur) about a scandal (het schandaal).
| Due to the scandal, they have been sitting sweating in the car. | Vanwege het schandaal hebben ze in de auto zitten zweten. |
| I have been standing sweating in the sun without getting the scoop. | Ik heb in de zon staan zweten zonder de primeur te krijgen. |
