Learn Dutch Grammar: Basic Sentence Structure

In this article:

• The Importance of Grammar in Learning Dutch

• Basic sentence Structure

• The Verb Comes Second

• How to Ask a Question

• The Tempo Rule

• Sentences With More Than One Verb: Bring Out The Catapult

Joan Didion once described grammar as a piano she plays by ear. She said that all she knew about grammar was its infinite power. Grammar isn’t the most "sexy" topic to write about, but when you want to learn Dutch, you’ll eventually be confronted with Dutch grammar. Fortunately, if you’re an English speaker, you’ll find many similarities that will make your language learning journey smoother than expected. A solid understanding of Dutch grammar will help you master all four skills: speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Once you master the basics, you too will know about its infinite power.

The Importance of Grammar in Learning Dutch

Having a solid vocabulary is undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of being able to communicate in a foreign language. Even without much knowledge of sentence structure, you can point at people or objects and say the word you’re thinking of, trying to make yourself understood with a combination of vocal and visual clues. In fact, this is often how we learn to speak and communicate in our native language. However, at some point, you’ll probably want to express more complicated thoughts and ideas. Maybe a little Stravinsky with your stroopwafel or some Kafka with your coffee? That’s where grammar comes into play. A good knowledge of grammar will allow you to form long and coherent sentences. It will help you use the correct pronouns and verb conjugations, making it clear to your interlocutors who is doing what exactly. It will help you express whether something is happening now, in the past, or in the future. Think of language as a house and picture your vocabulary as the bricks to build the walls. Grammar is the very foundation on which you build the house.

Basic Sentence Structure

Just like in English, the most basic sentence you can make in Dutch is the so-called simple sentence. A simple sentence means that there is one subject (the person or thing doing the action), one verb (the action or state of being), and sometimes also an object (the person or thing receiving the action).

Here are two examples of a simple sentence in Dutch. As you can see, all these sentences start with the subject, followed by the verb, and then the object. That’s why sometimes, linguists will call Dutch an SVO-language. If you look at the English translation, you will notice that the sentence structure is exactly the same. That’s because English is also considered an SVO-language. Easy, right?

Example 1

Example 2

In the first example, the subject is “ik,” the verb is “eet,” and the object is “een appel.” In the second example, the subject is “zij,” the verb is “leest,” and the object is “een boek.” Look at the examples again. You’ll notice that the verb always comes in the second position. Remember this, because it will help you a lot once you’re ready to tackle longer, more complicated sentences.

The Verb Comes Second

Let’s have another look at the first example, “Ik eet een appel” (“I eat an apple”). It’s a simple sentence because it has a subject, a verb, and an object. Now, I want to add some more information to this sentence. I want to express that I eat an apple every day because, you know, I would like to keep the doctor away. “Every day” in Dutch would be “elke dag.” Let’s have a look at the complete sentence in Dutch and English.

“Elke dag” or “every day” is what we call a time adverbial. A time adverbial answers the question “when?”. As you can see, the time adverbial typically comes at the end of the sentence, both in English and Dutch. However, I really want you to focus on the verb here, because in a few moments you will see why that’s important. Both Dutch and English allow for some flexibility with the sentence structure. For example, you can also start your sentence with the time adverbial instead of the subject. See what that looks like in both languages:

Wait, what just happened? Why are the Dutch and English sentence structures no longer the same? Congratulations, you have encountered your first obstacle in your language journey. But like the true hero you are, you will overcome this problem with great ease!

Remember when I said that in a Dutch sentence the verb always comes second? Here you can see an excellent example of that. Whether I begin my sentence with the subject (“ik eet elke dag een appel”) or the time adverbial (“elke dag eet ik een appel”), the verb (“eet”) remains fixed in the second position. Think of the verb as the anchor of the sentence that never moves and holds everything else in place.

How to Ask a Question

An ordinary sentence provides us with information. Someone eats an apple. Someone reads a book. A question is different in the sense that it is asking for information we don’t have yet. The sentence structure of a question can also be a little different from an ordinary sentence. Similar to English, you can ask questions with question words. Have a look at this overview:

Another very common way to ask a question in Dutch is by using subject-verb inversion. This means that we’re going to switch or invert the positions of the subject and the verb. Usually, the subject comes first and the verb comes second. You can easily form a question by flipping the positions of the subject and the verb, starting your sentence with the verb.

I can turn this simple sentence into a question by switching the subject and the verb. It would look like this:

The sentence “zij leest een boek” (“she reads a book”) can be turned into a question following the same principle: “leest zij een boek?” (“Is she reading a book?”). At first glance, subject-verb inversion to form a question looks quite different from English. However, upon closer examination, you'll notice that a typical English question like “Is she reading a book?” or “Is he eating an apple?” also starts with a verb, followed by the subject. So again, they're not that different!

The Tempo Rule

When Dutch sentences become longer and contain more information, the sentence structure will slightly differ from that of a typical English sentence. Luckily, there’s an easy trick to help you remember: tempo.

Let’s have a look at the sentence “I go to school every day by bike”. In Dutch, the sentence looks like this:

There are three pieces of information in this sentence that are relevant to us: “elke dag” (“every day”), “met de fiets” (“by bike”), and “naar school” (“to school”). You’ll notice that the order of these pieces of information is slightly different in the English translation. That’s because Dutch follows the Tempo rule: Time, Manner, Place. First, we say when we do something (Time), then we describe how we do it (Manner), and only then do we specify where we do it (Place). If you just remember the word “tempo,” you’ll never get it wrong again!

Sentences With More Than One Verb: Bring Out The Catapult

So far, we’ve only discussed simple sentences. Of course, much of the time, we speak in longer sentences, often containing more than one verb. These are complex sentences, and as their name suggests, this is where the structure might get a bit confusing in Dutch.

Let’s examine the following sentence: “I think that he’ll come tomorrow.” This sentence actually consists of two parts, each with its own subject and verb. There is the main clause (“I think”) and the subordinate clause (“that he’ll come tomorrow”). Sentences like this are straightforward in English because you can simply take the two sentences “I think” and “he’ll come tomorrow” and connect them with the conjunction “that.” Now, let’s see how this translates into Dutch:

It looks like something strange is going on. Also in Dutch, this is a sentence that consists of two different parts. There is “ik denk” (“I think”) and “hij komt morgen” (“he comes tomorrow"). However, the moment you link these two parts together with the conjunction “dat” (“that”), the verb of the subordinate clause moves to the end of the sentence. I like to imagine that the conjunction is a catapult that slings the verb to the end of the sentence. That’s why I refer to this phenomenon as the “catapult structure.” The catapult structure always occurs when you have a subordinate clause in Dutch. They are easily recognizable by phrases like “ik denk dat” (“I think that”), “ik vind dat” (“I believe that”), “hij zegt dat” (“he says that”), etc. It’s not uncommon to make a lot of mistakes with this when you start learning Dutch, but you’ll soon see that with the right amount of practice, you’ll master this in no time.

Conclusion

While grammar might not be the most glamorous topic, its role in mastering Dutch cannot be overstated. Like Joan Didion's piano, grammar provides the structure and harmony that underpin fluent communication. By grasping the basics of Dutch sentence structure, you're equipping yourself with essential tools. As an English speaker, you’ll find that most sentences in Dutch make sense because both languages are structurally quite similar. However, you will need to pay attention to complex sentences, where most mistakes are made. Luckily, once you understand the basic principles of how these phrases are formed, you will navigate the intricacies of Dutch grammar with confidence and fluency.