The Dutch tenses
When something happens and how it is seen — finished, in progress, already done before: that is the question every tense answers. Here are all the topics about it, each with its own page and its own exercises.
All 15 topics on tense and time
A1Ik werk, jij werkt: the regular presentA regular verb has only three forms in the present: the stem, the stem with -t, and the infinitive.A1Ik loop, ik zit, ik leef: the stem and the spellingWithout -en the spelling often changes: long vowels are doubled, double consonants become single, v and z become f and s.A1Ik ga, ik kan, ik mag: verbs with their own formsA handful of frequent verbs deviate — gaan, doen, staan, zien and the modal verbs kunnen, willen, mogen, zullen.A2Gewerkt or gewoond: the regular participlege + stem + t or d — which letter is decided by the rule ’t kofschip.A2Ik heb gefietst, ik ben naar huis gefietst: hebben or zijnzijn for a change of place with a goal and for a change of state, otherwise hebben.A2Gegeten, geschreven, gegaan: strong participlesStrong verbs end in -en in the participle and often change their vowel — much as in English.A2Betaald, vergeten, opgebeld: participles without ge- and with ge- in the middlebe-, ver-, ont-, her-, ge-, er- prevent ge-; separable verbs take ge- in the middle.A2Al, ooit, nog nooit: when to use the perfectThe perfect states what has happened — a single fact, an experience, a result.A2Werkte or woonde: the regular imperfectStem plus -te or -de, in the plural -ten or -den — which letter ’t kofschip tells you.B1Liep, ging, kwam, zag: the strong imperfectAnother vowel instead of an ending — often as in English, sometimes surprising.B1Ik heb gegeten or ik at: imperfect or perfectThe perfect states that something has happened; the imperfect tells how it was.B1Ik had al gegeten: the pluperfecthad or was plus participle — for what had already happened before another event.A1Ik ga koken: gaan plus infinitivegaan in second place, the infinitive at the end: the commonest way to talk about plans.A2Ik zal je bellen: zullenzullen promises, supposes and suggests, and is the neutral future only in formal texts.A2Morgen werk ik: the present with a time wordAs in English: present plus a time word is enough for almost everything that is fixed.
Practise the tenses
Exercises from every topic on tense and time, mixed together. That is exactly the hard part: almost anyone can build a form when it says next to it which one is meant.