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[ARCHIVE] Grammar: The Dutch present simple

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Fnirk1
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[ARCHIVE] Grammar: The Dutch present simple

Post by Fnirk1 »

Originally posted by: Lavinae https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/3762671

Content

  1. The conjugation of verbs in the present tense (present simple)

  2. The irregular verbs in the present tense (present simple)

  3. Functions of the present simple

1. The conjugation of verbs in the present tense (present simple)
Image
How does the conjugation of the regular verbs in the present tense work?

  1. The first person singular is formed by the stem of the infinitive – ‘en’.

  2. The second person singular receives the suffix -t, added to the stem. However, if the personal pronoun comes after the conjugated verb, inversion occurs and this suffix is dropped.

    Example: “Loop jij vandaag niet?”=“Are you not walking today?”

  3. For the plural forms, the first, second and third person, -en or in some cases -n is added to the stem of the word. As a student of Dutch, this is where you’ll catch a break: these forms are all simply the same as the infinitive!

2. The irregular verbs in the present tense (present simple)
These are the verbs which are conjugated irregularly in the present tense (present simple):

  1. hebben=to have

  2. kunnen= to be able to/can

  3. mogen=may/to be allowed to

  4. willen=to want

  5. zijn=to be

  6. zullen=will

Of these irregular verbs, zijn (to be) and hebben (= to have) are used the most frequently and feature as both auxiliary and main verbs. These are the conjugations of the two verbs:
Image

Note!: “U heeft" is also an accepted, a correct, conjugation of 'hebben'. Thus, for the formal you form, the formal second person singular, both heeft and hebt can be used. I am not putting this in the scheme above because it is easier to learn 'u hebt' as the standard form conjugation, 'u' being a second person singular pronoun. However, in principle, both forms are ok and can be used.

3. Functions of the present simple

  1. First, we use the present simple when an action or event is taking place right at this moment, now. For example: “Hij leert Nederlands.” (= He is studying Dutch). This individual is said to be studying right now.

  2. When an action or event is going to take place in the future. Note that therefore the present simple can also be used in some of the cases that English uses the future tense. Example: “Morgen eten wij kaas.” (= Tomorrow we are going to be eating cheese).

  3. When a general truth is put forward. For instance: “Nederlanders dragen klompen” (= The Dutch wear clogs).

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

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