Breakdown of Ik ben nog nooit in die stad geweest.
ik
I
zijn
to be
in
in
die
that
nog
still
de stad
the city
nooit
never
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Questions & Answers about Ik ben nog nooit in die stad geweest.
Why does this sentence use ben instead of heb?
Dutch forms the perfect tense with either hebben or zijn as an auxiliary plus a past participle. You use zijn (here ben) when the main verb is zijn itself or with certain intransitive verbs denoting movement or change of state. Since the verb here is zijn (to be), its perfect becomes ik ben geweest. With most other verbs you’d use heb.
What is geweest and why does it appear at the end?
Geweest is the past participle of zijn. In Dutch main clauses, participles go to the end. The general word order in a perfect-tense statement is:
- Subject (Ik)
- Auxiliary (ben)
- Adverbials/Objects (nog nooit in die stad)
- Past participle (geweest)
What does nog nooit mean, and how is it different from just nooit?
- Nooit = “never”
- Nog nooit = “never so far” or “not ever yet.”
Adding nog emphasizes that up until this moment you have never done it. You can drop nog (“Ik ben nooit in die stad geweest”), but nog nooit highlights the continuing relevance.
Why is it in die stad and not naar die stad?
- In die stad geweest = “have been in that city” (location)
- Naar die stad gegaan = “went to that city” (direction)
With geweest (been), Dutch uses in (or sometimes op for islands). Naar pairs with movement verbs like gaan (to go).
Why die stad instead of de stad or dat stad?
- de stad = “the city” (definite article)
- die stad = “that city” (demonstrative pronoun)
Stad is a de-word (common gender), so its demonstrative is die. If it were a het-word (neuter), you’d use dat.
Could I move nog nooit elsewhere in the sentence?
Yes. Adverbials are fairly flexible. You’ll most often see Ik ben nog nooit in die stad geweest, but Ik ben in die stad nog nooit geweest is also correct. The important thing is that the participle stays at the end.
Why do Dutch speakers use the perfect here instead of the simple past?
In Dutch, the perfect tense is generally used to talk about personal experiences or completed events—much more often than the simple past. Saying Ik was nog nooit in die stad sounds unusual; you’d normally use ben geweest for an experience you simply haven’t had.
Could I say Ik ben nog nooit in een stad geweest?
Yes—but that changes the meaning to “I have never been in any city.” Using een makes it indefinite (“any city”), whereas die refers to one specific city you have in mind.