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### The Infinitive

Dutch verbs appear in the dictionary in their full form, called the infinitive. Almost all Dutch infinitives end in **-en**.

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### The Verb Stem and the "I" Form

To talk about yourself using **ik** (I), you use the verb stem. For regular verbs, simply drop the **-en** from the infinitive. 

Dropping **-en** from **werken** (to work) gives the stem **werk**. 

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### Keeping Vowels Long

Dutch spelling aims to keep vowel sounds consistent. If an infinitive has a single long vowel before a single consonant (like **wonen**, to live), dropping the **-en** would create a closed syllable and shorten the sound (*won*). To keep it long, we double the vowel. The stem of **wonen** is **woon**.

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Plural pronouns like **wij** (we) don't use the stem. They just use the full infinitive.

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Other verbs follow this same vowel-doubling pattern, like **leren** (to learn, stem: **leer**) and **koken** (to cook, stem: **kook**).

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### Adverb Placement

In a simple Dutch sentence, the verb stays in the second position. Adverbs like **snel** (fast) or **altijd** (always) usually come directly after it.

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Verb stems and the 'I' form (ik werk)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

determiner/pronoun

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular pronouns and 'to be' (ik ben, hij is)

The formal 'you' (u bent)

Definite articles (de, het)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (wij zijn)

The verb 'to have' (hebben)

Basic word order

Numbers 1 to 10 (een, twee, drie)

Long vowels in verb stems (maken, ik maak)

Short vowels in verb stems (zitten, ik zit)

Present tense singular (-t)

Present tense plural (-en)

Yes/no questions

Question words (wie, wat, waar)

Noun negation (geen)

Plural nouns (-en)

Plural nouns (-s)

Diminutives (-je)

Adjective modifiers (heel, erg, te)

Verb negation (niet)

Singular possessives (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar)

Plural and formal possessives (ons/onze, jullie, hun, uw)

This and these (deze, dit)

That and those (die, dat)

Asking which (welke, welk)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elf, twaalf, dertien...)

Tens and compound numbers (dertig, veertig...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (eerste, tweede...)

Telling time: hours and half hours (uur, half)

Telling time: quarters (kwart over, kwart voor)

Question words (hoeveel, waarom)

Irregular verbs (doen, gaan, staan, zien, komen)

Adjective endings (+e)

Adjectives with 'het' words

Prepositions of place (uit, bij)

Subject-verb inversion

Time before place

Modal verbs (willen, kunnen)

Modal verbs (moeten, mogen)

The verb bracket

Separable prefix verbs

The imperative mood (kom, luister)

Singular object pronouns (mij, jou, hem, haar)

Plural and formal object pronouns (ons, jullie, hen, u)

Reflexive verbs and pronouns (zich, me, je)

Position of negation (niet)

The present perfect tense with regular verbs (hebben gewerkt)

The present perfect tense with motion verbs (zijn gegaan)

Irregular past participles (gezien, gedaan)

The present continuous (zijn aan het)

There is / there are (er is, er zijn)

Unstressed there (er)

And, but, or (en, maar, of)

Because (want)

Months of the year

Prepositions of time (om, van ... tot)

Greetings and politeness

Conversational glue

Prepositions with days (op)

Prepositions with seasons (in)

Genitive of time ('s morgens, 's nachts)

Adverbs of frequency (altijd, vaak)

The future tense (gaan)

The future tense (zullen)

Separable verbs with auxiliary verbs

Apostrophe plurals ('-s)

Irregular plurals (-eren)

Complex diminutives (-pje, -etje, -kje)

Possessive 's (Jan's, vaders)

Indefinite pronouns (iets, niemand, alles)

Indefinite subject pronoun (je)

Reciprocal pronoun (elkaar)

Comparative adjectives (-er dan)

Comparatives with spelling change (-der)

Superlative adjectives (-st)

Irregular comparisons (beter, meer, minder)

Expressing preference (graag, liever, het liefst)

Equality comparisons (even ... als)

Fixed prepositions

That clauses (dat)

Because clauses (omdat)

If and when clauses (als)

Inversion after clauses

Separable verbs in clauses

Negation in clauses (niet)

Past tense of to be (was / waren)

Past tense of to have (had / hadden)

Past tense of modal verbs (wilde, kon, moest, mocht)

Question	Answer
to work	werken
today	vandaag
I work today.	Ik werk vandaag.
in	in
the city	de stad
I work in the city.	Ik werk in de stad.
to live	wonen
I live in the city now.	Ik woon nu in de stad.
We live in a small house.	We wonen in een klein huis.
to learn	leren
Dutch	Nederlands
I learn Dutch.	Ik leer Nederlands.
fast	snel
I learn fast.	Ik leer snel.
always	altijd
I always work fast.	Ik werk altijd snel.
to cook	koken
We cook together today.	We koken vandaag samen.
I cook.	Ik kook.
They read the newspaper.	Ze lezen de krant.
I always learn Dutch.	Ik leer altijd Nederlands.