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### Expressing Wishes with Verb-First Inversion

To express a strong wish or regret like "If only..." in Dutch, move the verb to the beginning of the sentence (like a yes/no question) and add the modal particle **maar** after the subject. An exclamation mark shows it is a wish, not a question.

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### Past Regrets: "Had ik maar..."

For past regrets, use the past perfect tense. Start with the past tense of **hebben** (*had/hadden*) or **zijn** (*was/waren*), keep **maar** after the subject, and push the past participle to the end.

Remember that verbs indicating a change of state (like **verlopen**, to expire) or motion usually take **zijn** instead of **hebben**.

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### Adding Emphasis and Separable Verbs

To make a regret even stronger, combine **maar** with **toch** (**toch maar**).

With separable verbs like **wegrijden** (to drive away) or **doorrijden** (to drive on), the rules remain the same: the auxiliary verb (*zijn* or *hebben*) goes at the front, and the full past participle stays at the end of the sentence.

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Wishes and regrets (had ik maar / was het maar)

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)

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

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)

Question	Answer
the gate (physical, e.g. fence or city)	de poort
If only the gate were open!	Was de poort maar open!
to expire	verlopen
I am afraid of the ticket inspection, because my transit card has expired.	Ik ben bang voor de controle, want mijn ov-chipkaart is verlopen.
If only my passport had not expired!	Was mijn paspoort maar niet verlopen!
If only your driver's license had not expired!	Was jouw rijbewijs maar niet verlopen!
the traffic light	het stoplicht
If only the traffic light were green!	Was het stoplicht maar groen!
If only we had stayed home!	Waren we maar thuis gebleven!
The faster you drive, the earlier we arrive.	Hoe harder je rijdt, hoe eerder we aankomen.
the intercity train	de intercity
If only I had waited for the intercity!	Had ik maar op de intercity gewacht!
to drive away	wegrijden
We were running, but the intercity was already driving away.	We waren aan het rennen, maar de intercity reed al weg.
If only the bus had not driven away without me!	Was de bus toch maar niet zonder mij weggereden!
If only we had a better connection!	Hadden we maar een betere aansluiting!
If only we had not missed the connection!	Hadden we de aansluiting maar niet gemist!
wrong / incorrectly	verkeerd
the local train	de stoptrein
You are going to take the wrong local train.	Je gaat de verkeerde stoptrein nemen.
If only I had not driven the wrong way!	Was ik maar niet verkeerd gereden!
the credit card	de creditcard
If only I had my credit card at the gate!	Had ik mijn creditcard maar bij de poort!
to drive on / to continue driving	doorrijden
If only he had driven on at the traffic light!	Was hij bij het stoplicht maar doorgereden!
the transfer / connection (public transport)	de overstap
If only the transfer to the local train were short!	Was de overstap op de stoptrein maar kort!
If only I had my credit card during the transfer!	Had ik mijn creditcard maar tijdens de overstap!
If only the taxi had driven on!	Was de taxi maar doorgereden!