The Future Tense with "gaan"
To talk about plans, intentions, or things that will happen in the near future, Dutch uses the auxiliary verb gaan (to go) with an infinitive. This is similar to the English "going to" construction.
| Subject | Verb |
|---|---|
| ik | ga |
| jij / u | gaat |
| hij / zij / het | gaat |
| wij / jullie / zij | gaan |
Word Order
In a standard sentence, the conjugated form of gaan takes the second position, while the main action (the infinitive) gets pushed to the end of the clause.
| We are going to discuss the plan tomorrow. | Wij gaan het plan morgen bespreken. |
| We are going to save a lot of money for the holiday. | Wij gaan veel geld sparen voor de vakantie. |
Future Time Expressions
You will often pair the future tense with time expressions like morgen (tomorrow) or in de toekomst (in the future).
| What are you going to do in the future? | Wat ga jij in de toekomst doen? |
If you place the time expression at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis, the verb and subject swap places (inversion). The infinitive still stays at the end.
| Next week we are going to start the project. | Volgende week gaan we met het project beginnen. |
Asking Questions
To ask a question, place the conjugated verb gaan before the subject. Remember that when the pronoun jij or je directly follows the verb, the -t ending is dropped (ga je).
| When are you going to celebrate your birthday? | Wanneer ga je jouw verjaardag vieren? |
| Why are we not going to discuss this idea? | Waarom gaan we dit idee niet bespreken? |
Combining Sentences
When connecting clauses with coordinating conjunctions like en (and) or maar (but), the word order for each part remains standard. The infinitive stays at the end of its respective clause.
| We are going to live together and we are going to build a house. | Wij gaan samenwonen en wij gaan een huis bouwen. |
| My parents are going to move, but they have no money. | Mijn ouders gaan verhuizen, maar ze hebben geen geld. |
