Dutch grammar
Encyclopedia
Word order
Structurally, Dutch is a V2V2 word order
In syntax, verb-second word order is the rule in some languages that the second constituent of declarative main clauses is always a verb, while this is not necessarily the case in other types of clauses.- V2 effect :...
language, which means that the inflected verb is raised to the second position in the main clause. Word order is SVO in main clauses and SOV in subordinate clauses. Research has led to the general assumption that Dutch has an underlying SOV word order.
| Jan | zei | dat | hij | zijn | moeder | wilde | gaan | helpen |
| Jan | said | that | he | his | mother | wanted | go.INF Infinitive In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives... |
help.INF |
| "Jan said that he wanted to go help his mother." | ||||||||
Inversion of the subject and verb is used in interrogative sentences:
| Jij | ging | naar | de | winkel |
| You | went | to | the | store |
| "You went to the shop." | ||||
| Ging | jij | naar | de | winkel? |
| went | you | to | the | store |
| "Did you go to the shop?" | ||||
It also occurs when the first phrase in a sentence is not its subject.
Here are some rules about where to place the words in a Dutch sentence:
- AdjectiveAdjectiveIn grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s always come before the nounNounIn linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
to which they belong.
-
- rode appels – red apples
- In statements, the subject always comes first or third and the auxiliary verbAuxiliary verbIn linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
comes second. If there is no auxiliary verb, the main verb comes second. If there is a separable prefix, the prefix goes on the end of the sentence, as does the main verb (with separable prefix on the beginning of the verb) if there is an auxiliary verb. - In yes/no questions, the verb usually comes first and the subject comes second. If there is an auxiliary verb or separable prefix, it follows the same rules as the previous one outlined for putting parts on the end. If the subject comes before the verb, this often implies disbelief, like in English: "The prisoner escaped?" vs. "Did the prisoner escape?".
- In a command, the verb comes first.
- Time modifiers usually come before place modifiers:
Ik ben dit jaar naar Frankrijk geweest I am this year to France been "I went to France this year."
- In statements, the subject always comes first or third and the auxiliary verb
- rode appels – red apples
In the following example, the SOV order in the subordinate clause causes the various noun phrases to be separated from the verbs that introduce them:
| Ik zie dat | de ouders | de kinderen | Jan | het huis | hebben | laten | helpen | schilderen. |
| I see that | the parents | the children | John | the house | have | let | help | paint |
| "I see that the parents have let the children help John paint the house." | ||||||||
Nouns
In Dutch, nouns generally describe persons, places, things, and abstract ideas, and are treated as grammatically distinct from verbs. Nouns are marked for number and size.In standard Dutch (formerly known as Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands; General Civilized Dutch) there are three genders
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
, masculine, feminine and neuter. However in large parts of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
there is no grammatical distinction between what were originally masculine and feminine genders, nowadays being adjectivally inflected in the same manner. In certain Belgian Dutch
Flemish
Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....
dialectal forms of standard Dutch however, the distinction between masculine and feminine noun genders survives with the use of pronouns. The gender of a word determines the articles used with it and the pronouns referring to it. Masculine and feminine nouns are usually collectively called de-words, and neuter nouns are called het-words, in accordance with the definite article used with them. Traditionally, pronouns used for masculine nouns are hij/hem/zijn, feminine zij/haar, neuter het/zijn. In the Netherlands, awareness of the distinction between masculine and feminine nouns disappeared in the 1600s, and using only masculine and neuter pronouns has become the standard in speech and writing. A few very commonly used nouns, such as "earth" and "sun" still take feminine gender in writing, but rather than this being a grammatical function, it is usually analyzed as a poetic function, in a similar way that English refers to "ship" with the pronoun "she". This goes so far that in the Netherlands a referent such as a cow is often referred to with he, even though the animal is biologically feminine.
For nouns ending in a strong syllable (including all monosyllabic words), the plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
is formed by addition of -en. Exception to this rule are kinship terms broer ("brother") and oom ("uncle"). Several other rule-based changes in the word may take place at the same time: if a double vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
occurs in the final syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
of a word, it will become a single vowel as a result of the closed syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
becoming open (boot → boten), the sound itself is still the same: because the syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
becomes open, it is no longer necessary to write the vowel double; final consonants are often duplicated to preserve the short vowel sound (schil → schillen), and for words that end in /z/ and /v/ underlyingly, final -s and -f sounds are changed into -z- and -v- (huis → huizen, hoef → hoeven). A remnant of this pattern exists in English: dief - "thief", dieven, - "thieves". The usage of -s and -f in the orthography of the singular forms reflects final devoicing, which is not applicable in the plural forms. For nouns ending in a weak syllable, the plural is usually formed by addition of -s (or -'s, if the noun ends in a long vowel), with some exceptions. For a number of nouns of Latin origin, the Latin plural may be used (museum → musea, politicus → politici). Words ending in -heid get a plural in -heden. Some nouns, such as stad → steden and schip → schepen, have irregular plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
s.
For proper nouns (names), possessive forms can be formed by addition of -s, or if the pronunciation
Pronunciation
Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....
is affected, by addition of -'s.
Genitive noun forms are essentially archaic
Archaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
and not part of common usage anymore. The only common exceptions of this are certain fixed expressions (e.g. "De dag des oordeels", Judgement day; "Het Leger des Heils", The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
), and sometimes plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
genitives in combination with the genitive form of the definite article
Definite Article
Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...
, "der". For example the official name of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in Dutch is "Koninkrijk der Nederlanden", Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is declined for the genitive plural. In common usage of language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, genitive forms are formed by usage of the word "van," in essentially the same way that "of" is used in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The adjective still forms a partive genitive after words that indicate a quantity, like wat,iets,veel:
- veel liefs (a lot of love)
- iets zoets (something sweet)
Archaic genitive forms may still appear in writing, where they are usually employed to make an article sound more "bookish" or academic. However, many writers are totally unaware of the historical distinction between masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive case (where the article is "des", the noun declines by taking an "-s" ending, and adjectives inflect by taking "-en" endings); and between feminine and plural nouns (where the article is der, nouns take zero endings and adjectives inflect by taking "-e" endings). Because of this, grammatically incorrect constructions can appear and using the genitive for this purpose is discouraged and generally seen as somewhat pompous.
For example, one might see a title such as:
- De Geschiedenis Der Nederlandse Film
- The History of Dutch Film
- ‘Modern’ Dutch: De Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Film
where "Film" is declined as a feminine gender noun, and "Nederlandse" inflected likewise.
Written correctly, it should read:
- De Geschiedenis Des Nederlandsen Films
- The History of Dutch Film
- ‘Modern’ Dutch: De Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Film
as "film" in Dutch is historically a masculine noun http://www.vandale.nl/vandale/opzoeken/woordenboek/?zoekwoord=film. Notwithstanding however, this formal use of the Genitive case, associated with bookishness and higher learning, probably persists as one tends to encounter it in institutions of higher learning. For example, all the faculties of the University of Leiden have names which are declined in the Genitive case http://www.leidenuniv.nl/faculteiten.html, as well as in religious usage where use of the genitive can play a somewhat similar function in making language sound more formal and respectful as the use of the archaic pronoun "thou/thee/thy", with subsequent conjugation of the verb in "-st" (e.g. "thou seest") does in religious usage in English.
Definite article
When referring to one particular person or item, the definite article is used, being de for masculine and feminine words and het for neuter words. A shortened, informal form for het is 't. In current usage, definite articles are unchangeable except in a few frozen combinations.- de man (the man)
- de vrouw (the woman)
- het huis (the house)
In plural forms the article de is used for all genders.
- de mannen (the men)
- de vrouwen (the women)
- de huizen (the houses)
Diminuitive forms are always 'het', unless they're plural
- het mannetje (the little man) but de mannetjes (the little men)
- het vrouwtje (the little woman) but de vrouwtjes (the little women)
- het huisje (the little house) but de huisjes (the little houses)
Indefinite article
The indefinite article is een for all genders, which has a shortened informal 'n. In plural, like in English, there is no indefinite article and the indefinite forms consist of nouns unaccompanied by any article. Except in a few frozen combinations the indefinite article is unchangeable for case.- een huis (a house)
- huizen (houses)
Dutch has a negative indefinite article geen (no, not a, not any, out of):
- Ik heb geen bezwaar ("I have no objection")
- Dit is geen huis ("This is not a house")
- Er zijn geen huizen in deze straat ("There aren't any houses in this street")
- Geen dienst ("Out of service" or "Not operating")
Adjectives
Within the Dutch noun phraseNoun phrase
In grammar, a noun phrase, nominal phrase, or nominal group is a phrase based on a noun, pronoun, or other noun-like word optionally accompanied by modifiers such as adjectives....
, adjectives are placed in front of the noun and after the article (if present). In this position, most adjectives have a basic form (e.g. wit "white", rood "red", zwart "black") and an inflected form, made by adding the suffix -e and making other orthographic adjustments as necessary (e.g. witte, rode, zwarte).
The inflected adjective is used before plural nouns of all genders, singular de-words (masculine and feminine nouns), and singular het-words (neuter nouns) preceded by a definite determiner
Determiner (class)
A determiner is a noun-modifier that expresses the reference of a noun or noun-phrase in the context, rather than attributes expressed by adjectives...
. This means that the uninflected form is used before singular neuter nouns preceded by an indefinite determiner, or no determiner. For example:
- de-word:
- de rode appel ("the red apple")
- een rode appel ("a red apple")
- rode appels ("red apples")
- het-word
- het rode huis ("the red house", singular het-word with definite article)
- een rood huis ("a red house", singular het-word with indefinite article)
- rode huizen ("red houses", plural het-word)
This general rule is not absolute, however, and uninflected adjectives are in fact found in many other contexts. For example, if the adjective describes an inherent property of the (singular) noun, rather than a specification of it, the ending -e is dropped. The noun may be preceded by a definite article or no article.
- openbaar vervoer ("public transport (in general)")
- het openbaar vervoer ("the public transport (in general)")
- lijdend voorwerp ("grammatical objectObject (grammar)An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon...
", literally suffering object) - het lijdend voorwerp ("the grammatical object")
In contrast:
- het openbare vervoer van Amsterdam ("public transport of Amsterdam (specifically)")
Adjectives describing people often remain uninflected, for instance if they express an admirable quality:
- een groot man ("a great man"), but een grote man ("a big/tall man")
- een talentvol schrijver ("a talented writer")
Most adjectives ending in -en, for example material adjectives, have no inflected forms.
- een houten stoel ("a wooden chair")
- het stenen huis ("the brick house")
- metalen lampen ("metal lamps")
Finally, adjectives in predicative position (e.g. after a copular verb) are uninflected:
- Die appel is rood/*rode. ("That apple is red.")
- Dit huis is rood/*rode. ("This house is red.")
Verbs
Verbs in Dutch can be classified as weak, strong, and irregular.Weak verbs
Weak verbs form their past tenses by addition of a dental, -d- or -t-. The rule Dutch children are taught is the " 't kofschip't kofschip
The t kofschip or t fokschaap rule is a mnemonic that determines the endings of a regular Dutch verb in the past simple indicative/subjunctive and the ending of the past participle...
(the merchant ship) rule", that is, if the verb stem ends with the consonants of 't kofschip
't kofschip
The t kofschip or t fokschaap rule is a mnemonic that determines the endings of a regular Dutch verb in the past simple indicative/subjunctive and the ending of the past participle...
(-t, -k, -f, -s, -ch or -p), the past tense dental is a -t-; otherwise it is a -d-. Linguists put it more simply: a stem takes a dental suffix, which must match the final stem consonant in voicing.
- werken, ik werkte, gewerkt (to work) - worked
- leren, ik leerde, geleerd (to learn/teach) - learned
The perfect participle (cf. worked in 'I have worked') is formed by adding 'ge-' in front of the past tense form and removing the end '-e'. If it's used adjectivally, an end '-e' is used like that of adjectives:
- ik heb gefietst (I have biked)
- de gefietste route (The biked route)
Strong verbs
Strong verbs form their past tenses by ablautIndo-European ablaut
In linguistics, ablaut is a system of apophony in Proto-Indo-European and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages...
. For strong verbs one needs to learn three principal parts
Principal parts
In language learning, the principal parts of a verb are those forms that a student must memorize in order to be able to conjugate the verb through all its forms.- English :...
: the infinitive, the preterite
Preterite
The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place or were completed in the past...
, and the past participle. Typical of strong verbs is the vowel change. Examples:
- binden, bond, gebonden (to tie / to bind)
- lopen, liep, gelopen (to walk)
- doen, deed, gedaan (to do)
The system of strong verbs is similar to that of the irregulars in English but has retained more of its regularity. In both languages you need to learn three forms and the most common irregular verbs in English are strong in Dutch, but not all irregular verbs in English are strong in Dutch and vice-versa. There are about 150 strong roots giving rise to about 800 strong verbs in total if all derived verbs with separable and inseparable prefixes are included.
Strong verbs of the classes 4 and 5 also distinguish between a short a in the preterite singular and a long ā in the preterite plural. This is a remnant of the old preterite singular grade of ablaut. For a fuller explanation of strong verbs, see the article Germanic strong verb
Germanic strong verb
In the Germanic languages, a strong verb is one which marks its past tense by means of ablaut. In English, these are verbs like sing, sang, sung...
.
Mixed Verbs
Verbs are called mixed verbs if some tenses are weak and others are strong.- lachen, ik lachte, ik heb gelachen
- zouten, ik zoutte, ik heb gezouten
- kunnen, ik kon, ik heb gekund
A number of weak verbs such as denken show the irregularity associated with Rückumlaut: see the article on umlaut
Germanic umlaut
In linguistics, umlaut is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a following vowel or semivowel. The term umlaut was originally coined and is used principally in connection with the study of the Germanic languages...
:
- denken, ik dacht (to think)
Usually these words are considered 'strong', since one cannot deduce its preterite (past tense) form regularly. Often they are called mixed verbs because their past participle ends on t instead of en. The perfect participle of the words can be deduced regularly from its preterite form:
- denken, ik dacht, gedacht
Irregular verbs
Some of the most used verbs in the Dutch language have irregular conjugations. Examples are zijn, hebben, and the four modals kunnen, mogen, willen, and zullen. In pairs for the singular second person such as zal/zult, the second carries a somewhat more formal connotation. In formal registers, u (the formal pronoun for the second person) can be combined with both forms depending on the region. The second form of the pair hebt/heeft cannot be combined with je/jij (the informal pronoun).The verb "zijn" has two special forms that go exclusively with the personal pronoun "gij": in the present tense, "gij zijt" (you are), and in the past tense, "gij waart" (you were). The same goes for the verb "mogen", though only in the present tense: "gij moogt" (you are allowed). The verbs "hebben", "zullen", "kunnen" en "willen" have special forms for "gij" in the past tense: "gij hadt", "gij zoudt", "gij kondt" and "gij woudt" ("gij wilde(t)"). The strong conjugation of "willen" is almost only found in spoken language; certainly the plural form "wouden" should not be used in formal cases.
| infinitive (meaning) |
present | past | perfect | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | participle | |
| zijn (to be) | ben, bent, is | zijn | was | waren | geweest |
| hebben (to have) | heb, hebt/heeft, heeft | hebben | had | hadden | gehad |
| zullen (will, shall) | zal, zal/zult, zal | zullen | zou | zouden | - |
| kunnen (can, to be able) | kan, kan/kunt, kan | kunnen | kon | konden | gekund |
| mogen (to be allowed) | mag, mag, mag | mogen | mocht | mochten | gemogen |
| willen (to want) | wil, wil(t), wil | willen | wou (wilde) | wouden (wilden) | gewild |
Personal and possessive pronouns
Just like with nouns and adjectives, most aspects of the old Germanic noun case system have been lost in the personal pronouns in modern Dutch. As in English, the main remaining distinction is that between subject and object, while the old dative and accusative forms have merged into one object form. The only exception to this is the third person plural, which retains separate forms for direct objects and indirect objects, though even native speakers often fail to make the distinction (see below). Also, as in English, the Dutch version of youYou
You is the second-personpersonal pronoun, both singular and plural, and both nominative and objective case, in Modern English. The oblique/objective form you functioned originally as both accusative and dative)...
has taken over the singular from the old thou
Thou
The word thou is a second person singular pronoun in English. It is now largely archaic, having been replaced in almost all contexts by you. It is used in parts of Northern England and by Scots. Thou is the nominative form; the oblique/objective form is thee , and the possessive is thy or thine...
form.
On the other hand, Dutch preserves relics of the old Germanic noun case system in its pronouns. A full list of pronoun forms is listed below, with unstressed "weak" (or clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
) forms given in parentheses.
| personal and possessive pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| person Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... | subject Subject (grammar) The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e... | object Object (grammar) An object in grammar is part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It denotes somebody or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. Basically, it is what or whom the verb is acting upon... | possessive pronoun Possessive pronoun A possessive pronoun is a part of speech that substitutes for a noun phrase that begins with a possessive determiner . For example, in the sentence These glasses are mine, not yours, the words mine and yours are possessive pronouns and stand for my glasses and your glasses, respectively... |
|
| 1 singular | ik ('k) | mij (me) | mijn (m'n) | |
| 2 singular | jij (je), gij (ge), u | jou (je), u | jouw (je), uw | |
| 3 sing (masc) (fem) (neut) |
hij (-ie) zij (ze) het ('t) |
hem ('m) haar ('r, d'r), (ze) het ('t) |
zijn (z'n) haar (d'r) zijn (z'n) |
|
| 1 plural | wij (we) | ons | ons/onze | |
| 2 plural | jullie, gij (ge), u | jullie, u | jullie (je), uw | |
| 3 plural | zij (ze) | hen (ze) (direct obj.) | hun | |
In spoken language, the third person plural forms hen and hun are interchanged (usually in favor of hun). The distinction between the two was artificially introduced in the 17th century, and it remains an area of uncertainty for many Dutch speakers. In most contexts, both forms are tolerated; the shared unstressed form ze is also a useful avoidance strategy. For non-human plural referents, only the unstressed pronoun ze is allowed (the strong form hun is replaced by the demonstratives deze and die). The use of hun as a subject pronoun (e.g. Hun zijn weggegaan. "They have gone away.") is non-standard. The shortened form "d'r" for "haar" is almost exclusively used in the Netherlands.
The 2nd person pronouns have different degrees of politeness, depending on dialect:
- in the Netherlands: jij (je) and jullie is informal and u is polite, while gij (ge), is only used in very formal or poetic contexts (for instance when addressing God in prayers).
- in Belgium: jij (je) is also informal but in spoken language, the older gij (ge) is used as well, just like in the South of the Netherlands, and u is polite. Note that "gij" has "u" and "uw" as respectively object and possessive forms.
The form onze is the inflected form of the possessive pronoun ons, which is inflected in the same way as the adjectives.
Pronouns used as subject or object of a verb (without a preposition), are theoretically chosen according to the grammatical gender of the noun they replace—i.e. hij/hem/'m for masculine (or common gender) nouns, zij/ze/haar/d'r for feminine nouns, and het/'t for neuter nouns (the reduced forms are preferred when referring to inanimate objects):
- Zie je [de stoel]/[de tafel]/[het broodje]? ("Do you see the chair/the table/the sandwich?")
- Ik zie 'm/ze/'t. (lit. "I see him/her/it.")
This gender distinction has practically disappeared in Northern Dutch, which the uses the masculine form only, but is still active in Southern Dutch.
In combination with a preposition, however, pronouns tend to be chosen according to natural gender: hem for males, haar for females, and replaced by the adverbial pronoun for inanimate entities.
Demonstrative pronouns
Like English, Dutch has two kinds of demonstrative pronouns: one kind (dit, deze) corresponds to the English this or these, and is used for nearby objects; the other kind (dat, die) corresponds to the English that or those and is used for objects at a further distance. The exact forms to use can be derived from the following scheme.| demonstrative pronouns | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular Grammatical number In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions .... | plural Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one... |
|
| masc/fem | deze/die | deze/die |
| neutral | dit/dat | deze/die |
When the demonstrative pronoun is used as a part of speech of its own, the forms dit and dat are always used. E.g.: Dit is een mooie auto ("This is a beautiful car") vs. Deze auto is mooi ("This car is beautiful").
The singular demonstrative pronouns can take plural verbs in certain contexts:
- Dat zijn nieuwe huizen (Those are new houses)
- Dit zijn mijn boeken (These are my books)
Pronominal adverbs
Pronouns are not used after a preposition when referring to inanimate objects. The ordinary series of neuter pronouns (het, dat, wat, etc.) cannot normally appear after a preposition, and they are instead replaced by the corresponding "r-pronoun":| regular pronoun | het | dit | dat | wat | iets | niets | alles |
| r-pronoun | er | hier | daar | waar | ergens | nergens | overal |
| pronoun meaning | it | this | that | what | something | nothing | everything |
| adverb meaning | there | here | there | where | somewhere | nowhere | everywhere |
As indicated in the table, the r-pronouns (so-called because they all contain the letter r) are used in other contexts as locative adverbs.
When used with a preposition, these r-pronouns usually do not appear after the preposition, but before it. Thus for example:
The r-pronoun and the preposition should be written as one word (except with ergens, nergens, and overal), and the resulting form is called a "pronominal adverb
Pronominal adverb
A pronominal adverb is a type of adverb occurring in a number of Germanic languages, formed in replacement of a preposition and a pronoun by turning the latter into a locative adverb and the former into a prepositional adverb and joining them in reverse order....
" (Dutch: voornaamwoordelijk bijwoord) in Dutch grammar. These forms are similar to words like hereupon, whereupon in English or darauf, worauf in German, but Dutch shows two particularities:
- Two prepositions change their form:
- Daar reken ik op. ("That, I am counting on.")
Numeral system
Dutch uses a decimal numeral system, without vigesimalVigesimal
The vigesimal or base 20 numeral system is based on twenty .- Places :...
traces like some other European languages. The base numbers, from which all cardinal numerals can be constructed, are:
| 0 | nul 0 (number) 0 is both a numberand the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals.It fulfills a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, 0 is used as a placeholder in place value systems... |
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| 1 | een | 11 | elf 11 (number) 11 is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12.Eleven is the first number which cannot be counted with a human's eight fingers and two thumbs additively. In English, it is the smallest positive integer requiring three syllables and the largest prime number with a single-morpheme name... |
10 | tien 10 (number) 10 is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11.-In mathematics:Ten is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and... |
| 2 | twee | 12 | twaalf 12 (number) 12 is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13.The word "twelve" is the largest number with a single-morpheme name in English. Etymology suggests that "twelve" arises from the Germanic compound twalif "two-leftover", so a literal translation would yield "two remaining [after having ten... |
20 | twintig 20 (number) 20 is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score.-In mathematics:*20 is the basis for vigesimal number systems.... |
| 3 | drie | 13 | dertien 13 (number) 13 is the natural number after 12 and before 14. It is the smallest number with eight letters in its name spelled out in English. It is also the first of the teens – the numbers 13 through 19 – the ages of teenagers.... |
30 | dertig 30 (number) 30 is the natural number following 29 and preceding 31.-In mathematics:30 is the sum of the first four squares, which makes it a square pyramidal number.It is a primorial and is the smallest Giuga number.... |
| 4 | vier | 14 | veertien 14 (number) 14 is the natural number following 13 and preceding 15.In speech, the numbers 14 and 40 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 14 vs 40... |
40 | veertig 40 (number) 40 is the natural number following 39 and preceding 41.Despite being related to the word "four" , 40 is spelled "forty", and not "fourty"... |
| 5 | vijf | 15 | vijftien 15 (number) 15 is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. In English, it is the smallest natural number with seven letters in its spelled name.... |
50 | vijftig 50 (number) This article discusses the number fifty. For the year 50 CE, see 50. For other uses of 50, see 50 50 is the natural number following 49 and preceding 51.-In mathematics:... |
| 6 | zes | 16 | zestien 16 (number) 16 is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .... |
60 | zestig 60 (number) 60 is the natural number following 59 and preceding 61. Being three times twenty, 60 is called "three score" in some older literature.-In mathematics:... |
| 7 | zeven | 17 | zeventien 17 (number) 17 is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is prime.In spoken English, the numbers 17 and 70 are sometimes confused because they sound similar. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 17 vs 70... |
70 | zeventig 70 (number) 70 is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71.-In mathematics:Its factorization makes it a sphenic number. 70 is a Pell number and a generalized heptagonal number, one of only two numbers to be both. Also, it is the seventh pentagonal number and the fourth 13-gonal number, as well as the... |
| 8 | acht | 18 | achttien 18 (number) 18 is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19.In speech, the numbers 18 and 80 are sometimes confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 18 vs 80 . However, in dates such as 1864, or when contrasting numbers in the teens, such as 17, 18, 19, the stress... |
80 | tachtig 80 (number) 80 is the natural number following 79 and preceding 81.- In mathematics :The sum of Euler's totient function φ over the first sixteen integers is 80.... |
| 9 | negen | 19 | negentien 19 (number) 19 is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number.In English speech, the numbers 19 and 90 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 19 vs 90... |
90 | negentig 90 (number) 90 is the natural number preceded by 89 and followed by 91.- In mathematics :*Because 90 is the sum of its unitary divisors , it is a unitary perfect number, and because it is equal to the sum of a subset of its divisors, it is a semiperfect number. 90 is a pronic number. But it is also a... |
Note that "een" is the same word as the indefinite article in the written language; as such, when confusion is possible, the number is often written as "één" to distinguish it from the article. They are always pronounced distinctly.
The cardinal numerals from 21 to 99 (apart from the tens) are constructed in a regular way, by adding en (=and) and the name of the appropriate multiple of ten to the name of the units position. (The last written digit
Digit
Digit may refer to:* Digit , one of several most distal parts of a limb—fingers, thumbs, and toes on hands and feet* Numerical digit, as used in mathematics or computer science* Hexadecimal, representing a four-bit number...
is actually pronounced first):
- 28 achtentwintig (literally "eight and twenty")
- 83 drieëntachtig (trema to mark diaeresis, to avoid confusion with ee)
- 99 negenennegentig
100 is honderd
100 (number)
100 is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.-In mathematics:One hundred is the square of 10...
, 200 tweehonderd
200 (number)
200 is the natural number following 199 and preceding 201.The number appears in the Padovan sequence, preceded by 86, 114, 151 ....
, 300 driehonderd
300 (number)
300 is the natural number following 299 and preceding 301.- Mathematical properties :It is a triangular number and the sum of a pair of twin primes , as well as the sum of ten consecutive primes...
and so on.
Numerals between 101 and 999 are constructed as follows:
- 112 honderdtwaalf or honderdentwaalf
- 698 zeshonderdachtennegentig
The same system used for naming the hundreds applies to the higher base numbers that are powers of ten. Dutch always uses the long scale system
Long and short scales
The long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale...
.
- 1 000 duizend
- 1 000 000 miljoen
- 1 000 000 000 miljard1000000000 (number)1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....
- 1 000 000 000 000 biljoen
- 1 000 000 000 000 000 biljard
The cardinal numerals of numbers greater than 1000 are grouped in "multiples of 1000" or divided by points:
- 2 348 is tweeduizend driehonderdachtenveertig; 2.348
- 117 401 067 is honderdzeventien miljoen vierhonderdeenduizend zevenenzestig; 117.401.067.
For numbers up to 10 000, it more common to use the hundreds.
so for example:
- 1 282 is usually twaalfhonderdtweeëntachtig instead of duizend tweehonderdtweeëntachtig (although both are correct)
The decimal sign is a comma: 12 390,35 or 12.390,35.
External links
- Algemene Nederlandse Spraakkunst, a comprehensive grammar of Dutch which is viewable online (in Dutch)
- Beginning Learner's Grammar of Dutch (UCL)
- Advanced Learner's Grammar of Dutch (UCL)
- www.dutchgrammar.com
- Dutch Flashcards