Dutch present tense
The Dutch present tense follows one pattern: ik takes the bare stem, jij, u and hij/zij/het take stem + t, and all plurals take the infinitive — ik werk, jij werkt, hij werkt, wij werken. The stem is the infinitive minus -en, adjusted by two spelling rules. Only a few verbs break the pattern, above all zijn (to be: ik ben, jij bent, hij is, wij zijn) and hebben (to have).
Finding the stem
The stem is the infinitive minus the -en ending. werken (to work) → stem werk; spelen (to play) → stem speel; horen (to hear) → stem hoor. Two of those already show the first spelling rule at work, which we come to below.
The regular paradigm
Once you have the stem, everything follows a fixed pattern. Here is werken laid out fully.
| Person | Form | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| ik (I) | werk | bare stem |
| jij / je (you, sing.) | werkt | stem + t |
| u (you, formal) | werkt | stem + t |
| hij / zij / het (he/she/it) | werkt | stem + t |
| wij / we (we) | werken | infinitive |
| jullie (you, plural) | werken | infinitive |
| zij / ze (they) | werken | infinitive |
So: Ik werk in Amsterdam (I work in Amsterdam), Zij werkt hard (She works hard), Wij werken samen (We work together). Note that Dutch has only one present tense — ik werk covers both English "I work" and "I am working". There is no separate continuous form.
The jij-inversion rule: dropping the -t
When jij or je comes after its verb — in a question, or after any word that pushes the verb to first position — the verb loses its -t and reverts to the bare stem. This only happens with jij/je, never with u, hij or zij.
| Normal order | Inverted (verb first) |
|---|---|
| Je werkt hier. (You work here.) | Werk je hier? (Do you work here?) |
| Je komt morgen. (You come tomorrow.) | Kom je morgen? (Are you coming tomorrow?) |
| Je hebt tijd. (You have time.) | Heb je tijd? (Do you have time?) |
Compare Werkt hij hier? — the -t stays because the subject is hij, not je. This drop is one of the most useful patterns to internalise, because questions come up constantly. More on question formation is on the Dutch questions page.
Spelling rule 1: keeping vowels long
Dutch spelling marks vowel length by syllable. A long vowel written double in a closed syllable is written single in an open one, and vice versa. When you strip -en off an infinitive, the syllable can close and force a doubled vowel in the stem.
| Infinitive | Stem | hij-form | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| maken | maak | maakt | to make |
| lezen | lees | leest | to read |
| wonen | woon | woont | to live/reside |
Conversely, a stem with a short vowel in a closed syllable doubles its final consonant when -en is added back for plurals: pakken → stem pak (not paak), so ik pak, wij pakken.
Spelling rule 2: v→f and z→s
Dutch does not allow v or z at the end of a stem. When a verb like leven or reizen loses its -en, the final consonant devoices in spelling.
| Infinitive | Stem | hij-form | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| leven | leef | leeft | leven | to live |
| geven | geef | geeft | geven | to give |
| reizen | reis | reist | reizen | to travel |
| verhuizen | verhuis | verhuist | verhuizen | to move house |
The v and z come back in the plural because the syllable reopens. This same devoicing shows up in the past tense, where it decides between the -te and -de endings — see the Dutch past tense.
Never double the t
If a stem already ends in t, you do not add a second one. zitten → stem zit → hij zit (not zitt). eten → stem eet → hij eet. And stems ending in d still take the written -t: worden → hij wordt, pronounced identically to word but spelled with both letters.
“To be” in the present tense: zijn
Zijn is the most irregular verb in Dutch and the one you will use most. Its present forms share almost nothing with the infinitive:
| Statement | Question | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik ben | ben ik? | I am |
| jij/je bent | ben je? | you are (informal) |
| u bent | bent u? | you are (formal) |
| hij/zij/het is | is hij? | he/she/it is |
| wij/we zijn | zijn we? | we are |
| jullie zijn | zijn jullie? | you are (plural) |
| zij/ze zijn | zijn ze? | they are |
Examples: Ik ben moe (I am tired), Ben je thuis? (Are you home?), Het is koud (It is cold), We zijn te laat (We are late). Several things English says with “to be” use other verbs in Dutch: age can use zijn (Ik ben dertig), but being hungry or thirsty uses hebben (Ik heb honger, Ik heb dorst), and where objects are located usually uses staan, liggen or zitten (Het boek ligt op tafel, the book is on the table).
The irregular verbs you need first
A handful of high-frequency verbs do not follow the stem rule. These are worth memorising as whole tables because you will use them in almost every sentence.
| Person | zijn (to be) | hebben (to have) | gaan (to go) | komen (to come) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ik | ben | heb | ga | kom |
| jij / je | bent | hebt / heb je | gaat | komt |
| u | bent | hebt / heeft | gaat | komt |
| hij / zij / het | is | heeft | gaat | komt |
| wij / jullie / zij | zijn | hebben | gaan | komen |
Only zijn and hebben are genuinely irregular. Komen is regular (stem kom), and the one-syllable verbs gaan, staan, slaan and doen follow a predictable pattern: ik ga, hij gaat, wij gaan. With u, standard Dutch says u bent (u is is old-fashioned), and u hebt and u heeft are both correct. The heb je form applies after inversion.
More common verbs in the present tense
The same rules produce the present tense of nearly every verb. These high-frequency verbs show the patterns side by side:
| Infinitive | ik | jij / hij | wij / jullie / zij | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| doen | doe | doet | doen | to do |
| staan | sta | staat | staan | to stand |
| zien | zie | ziet | zien | to see |
| eten | eet | eet | eten | to eat |
| zitten | zit | zit | zitten | to sit |
| vinden | vind | vindt | vinden | to find, think |
| worden | word | wordt | worden | to become |
| schrijven | schrijf | schrijft | schrijven | to write |
| kiezen | kies | kiest | kiezen | to choose |
| kunnen | kan | jij kunt / hij kan | kunnen | can |
| willen | wil | jij wilt / hij wil | willen | to want |
| weten | weet | weet | weten | to know (a fact) |
Stems ending in d keep the d and add t: hij vindt, jij wordt. After inversion the jij form drops only the t: Vind je?, Word je? — but Wordt hij?. The modal verbs kunnen, willen, mogen and zullen have no -t in the hij form; see modal verbs.
What the present tense is used for
The Dutch present covers more ground than the English simple present:
- Now and in general: Ik lees een boek can mean “I read a book” or “I am reading a book”. To stress that an action is in progress, Dutch uses aan het + infinitive: Ik ben aan het koken (I am cooking), or a position verb: Ze zit te lezen (she is sitting reading).
- The future: with a time word, the present is the normal way to talk about plans: Morgen werk ik thuis (I am working from home tomorrow).
- Up to now: where English uses “have been …ing”, Dutch uses the present with al or sinds: Ik woon hier al vijf jaar (I have been living here for five years).
Common mistakes. Three slips account for most present-tense errors:
- Adding -t to the ik-form. It is always ik werk, never ik werkt.
- Keeping the -t in a question with je. Write Woon je hier?, not Woont je hier?
- Forgetting to double the vowel in the stem: it is ik maak, not ik mak.
These and other frequent slips are collected on common mistakes Dutch learners make.
Belgian usage
The conjugation is identical in the Netherlands and Belgium. The difference is in the second person: Flemish speech often uses gij/ge instead of jij/je, and gij takes a -t ending — gij werkt, gij zijt, gij hebt. In writing and standard Dutch, though, everyone uses the same paradigm shown here.
The present tense is the foundation for everything else: the perfect uses present-tense hebben or zijn as its helper (see the perfect tense), and the Dutch present very often does the job of the future too. Once conjugation is automatic, the next thing to nail down is where the verb actually sits in the sentence — that is Dutch word order.
Frequently asked questions
How do you conjugate verbs in the Dutch present tense?
Find the stem by removing -en from the infinitive. Use the stem for ik, stem + t for jij, u and hij/zij/het, and the infinitive for wij, jullie and zij: ik werk, jij werkt, wij werken.
What is "to be" in the Dutch present tense?
Ik ben, jij bent, u bent, hij/zij/het is, wij zijn, jullie zijn, zij zijn. In questions with jij the -t drops: Ben je moe?
Why is it werk je but werkt hij?
When jij or je comes directly after the verb, the verb loses its -t: Werk je hier? The rule applies only to jij/je, so with hij, zij and u the -t stays: Werkt hij hier?
Does Dutch have a present continuous tense?
No separate tense. Ik werk means both “I work” and “I am working”. To stress an ongoing action, use aan het + infinitive: Ik ben aan het werken.
Is it hij vind or hij vindt?
Hij vindt. The stem vind ends in d, and the -t is still added for hij, even though the two spellings sound the same.