Reporting Hearsay with Zouden
When discussing rumors, allegations, or unverified facts, Dutch speakers frequently use the auxiliary verb zouden (the past tense of zullen). In this context, it doesn't mean "would" or "should". Instead, it acts as an evidential marker meaning "is said to", "allegedly", "reportedly", or "supposedly".
By using zouden with an infinitive, you distance yourself from the truth of the claim, making it perfect for reporting hearsay.
| The phenomenon is said to be extraterrestrial. | Het fenomeen zou buitenaards zijn. |
Reporting Past Allegations
To report a rumor about something that allegedly happened in the past, you combine zouden with a perfect infinitive. You form this by using zouden as the conjugated verb, and placing the past participle of the main verb at the end of the clause along with hebben or zijn.
Here is an example using zijn:
| A spaceship is said to have crashed here. | Er zou hier een ruimteschip zijn neergestort. |
And here is how it looks with a verb that takes hebben:
| They allegedly saw a luminous object on the radar. | Ze zouden een lichtgevend voorwerp op de radar hebben gezien. |
Conspiracy Theories and Cover-ups
Because zouden indicates that a statement is unverified, it is the go-to verb for discussing gossip, sensational news, and conspiracy theories. It allows you to talk about government cover-ups or extraterrestrial abductions without stating them as absolute facts.
| The government supposedly didn't cover up the UFO at all. | De overheid zou de ufo helemaal niet hebben verdoezeld. |
| The extraterrestrial visitor supposedly abducted her. | De buitenaardse bezoeker zou haar hebben ontvoerd. |
| The soldiers reportedly covered up the incident on the base. | De soldaten zouden het incident op de basis hebben verdoezeld. |