Did you know that Dutch and English are actually very close relatives? Since Dutch and English are both West Germanic languages, the two have many (grammatical) similarities. It is even said that Dutch is the easiest foreign language to learn for English speakers because of the big resemblance between the two. So even if Dutch is not your native language, you haven’t studied it, and you haven’t even been to the Netherlands yet, you might speak more Dutch than you think. Just have a look at some of these words: appel, peer, tomaat, banaan, koekje, schoen, blauw, groen, bruin, rood. Can you guess what they are?
| Sentence Type | English Example | Dutch Equivalent | Literal Translation / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Main Clause (SVO) | I eat an apple. | Ik eet een appel. | Same SVO pattern — Subject–Verb–Object. |
| Main Clause with Time Expression | We eat fries on Friday. | We eten op vrijdag frietjes. | Time adverb 'op vrijdag' can appear mid-sentence or at start. |
| Sentence Starting with Adverbial | On Friday we eat fries. | Op vrijdag eten we frietjes. | Inversion: Verb precedes subject after adverbial. |
| Subordinate Clause | If you go to Holland, I’ll come with you. | Als jij naar Holland gaat, kom ik met je mee. | Verb moves to end of subordinate clause ('gaat'). |
| Future Action | I will teach you tomorrow. | Ik leer je morgen. | Dutch often uses present simple instead of future auxiliary. |
| Question (no auxiliary) | Do you like this course? | Vind je deze cursus leuk? | No 'do/does' — verb comes before subject. |
| Negation | I do not speak Dutch well. | Ik spreek niet goed Nederlands. | Uses 'niet' ('not'), no auxiliary 'do'. |
| Adverb Order | I’m going to Amsterdam by train tomorrow. | Ik ga morgen met de trein naar Amsterdam. | Time–Manner–Place order in Dutch. |
1. Fundamental Word Order Differences
Both Dutch and English generally follow the subject-verb-object (SVO) pattern, but sentence structures can differ. Dutch verbs move more often than in English, often for emphasis, time expressions, or different clauses. Start with these word order basics.
Basic Sentence Structure
One of the most significant differences between English and Dutch grammar is word order. Both Dutch and English use the SVO pattern (subject – verb – object) as a basic sentence structure. Still, the word order that is used in the two languages does not always follow the same pattern.
Positioning of Verbs
A major difference between Dutch and English is where the verbs go. In Dutch, verbs can move depending on whether a sentence is a main or a subordinate clause. In main clauses, the finite verb appears in second position, while the non-finite verb goes to the end. For example, “Kees gaat morgen winkelen” literally follows a “subject–verb–adverb–infinitive” pattern, which contrasts with English, where both verbs usually stay together (“Kees is going shopping tomorrow”).
Inversion in Questions and Subordinate Clauses
When a sentence begins with an adverbial phrase or a subordinate clause, the subject-verb order is inverted. For example: Op vrijdag eten we Belgische frietjes (“On Friday we eat Belgian fries”). In subordinate clauses, the verb often moves to the end: Als jij naar Holland gaat, kom ik met je mee (“If you go to Holland, I’ll come with you”).
2. Use of Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary verbs are key in English sentence construction. They can help form questions, negatives, and complex tenses. Dutch, however, doesn't use these anywhere near as much, with word order conveying these ideas. You can avoid common mistakes by knowing when these are and aren't needed.
Formation of Questions
As opposed to English, Dutch does not use any auxiliary to form an interrogative sentence. So, to create a question in Dutch, there is no need to add an auxiliary like ‘do’ to the sentence. Since auxiliaries aren’t present in the Dutch language, the use of ‘do’ and ‘did’ might be a bit tricky for a Dutch beginner learning to speak English. Therefore, you might hear a Dutch person say: ‘like you this language course?’ (‘vind je deze talencursus leuk?’) instead of ‘do you like this language course?’
What is interesting is that back in the day, there was no need for adding auxiliaries in English either. It might seem very weird to you now to form an interrogative sentence without an auxiliary, but just look at back at texts of Shakespeare, for example, and you will see that the Dutch system is used there. (Side note, this might be an interesting topic for a thesis for any of you out there looking for one. Or am I the only one interested in knowing why this has changed?)
Negation
Negation doesn't usually require an auxiliary verb in Dutch. In Dutch, the main negative word is niet ("not"), and its placement depends on what is being negated. Generally, it appears at the end of a clause or just before the element it modifies. For example, Ik spreek niet goed Nederlands translates directly to “I speak not good Dutch,” whereas in English, the auxiliary “do” is required: “I do not speak Dutch well.”
3. Verb Tenses and Usage
Both Dutch and English have four basic verb tenses: the present simple, past simple, present perfect, and past perfect. However, these tenses are not always used in the same way in both languages. A common mistake that Dutch people make while they speak English is using the present perfect where the past simple should be used.
Present Perfect vs Past Simple
In English, you would say: ‘she learned some Afrikaans yesterday’. But a Dutch person might easily make the mistake of using the present perfect here and say ‘she has learned some Afrikaans yesterday’. This is because of how you would structure this sentence according to Dutch grammar rules. In Dutch you would use the present perfect: ‘zij heeft gister Afrikaans geleerd’.
Future Tense Construction
Another common mix-up of tenses between Dutch and English is using the present simple instead of the future simple. Whereas in Dutch, using the present simple in ‘I teach you how to speak Dutch tomorrow’ is completely correct, in English, the future simple would be used: ‘I will teach you how to speak Dutch tomorrow’. Furthermore, don’t be surprised when a Dutch person tells you ‘I live in Utrecht since 2012’. In Dutch, the present simple is used in this kind of sentence (‘ik woon in Utrecht sinds 2012’), but in English, the present perfect should be used (‘I have lived in Utrecht since 2012’).
4. Pronouns and Articles
Whereas the English make a distinction between ‘everyone’ and ‘anyone’, the Dutch just use ‘iedereen’ for both. So if you want to say ‘anyone can learn a foreign language’ or ‘it seems like everyone is learning foreign languages these days’, in Dutch you would use ‘iedereen’ in both cases.
Singular Pronouns
Similarly, ‘alles’, is used for both ‘everything’ and ‘anything’. So again using an example, you would use ‘alles’ in both ‘everything is written in Flemish’ or ‘I can’t understand anything written in Flemish’. Even though ‘iedereen’ clearly refers to multiple people, it is considered to be a singular pronoun in Dutch. The same goes for ‘alles’: although it refers to multiple things, it’s considered a singular pronoun. Therefore, you say 'iedereen is' en 'alles is' instead of 'iedereen zijn' en 'alles zijn'. ‘Anyone’ and ‘everyone’ in English are considered to be singular pronouns too; however, in conversational English, you will sometimes come across a sentence like ‘everyone is showing off their language skills’. In Dutch, albeit formal or informal, you will never come across something like this.
If a Dutch person comes up to you and says ‘it are good quality tulips’, you’ll probably have to try hard to suppress a grin. This is how we say it in Dutch, though, as a plural form of ‘het’ does not exist. In Dutch, you would say, ‘het zijn goede kwaliteit tulpen’.
Okay, if it’s one of those annoying salesmen at the flower market in Amsterdam, you’re allowed to let out a little grin. But in any other situation, keep in mind that translating ‘het zijn’ into ‘they are’ can be tricky for the Dutch who are just starting to learn English. It’s not that using ‘they are’ in these cases doesn’t exist in Dutch. However, this is done only when ‘they’ is not directly linked to a noun in the same sentence. ‘They are’ is only used referring back to a noun, for example, in a previous sentence. So for example: ‘het zijn goede kwaliteit tulpen’ (‘they are high quality tulips’), and ‘ze zijn van goede kwaliteit’ (‘they are of good quality’). Notice that in the second sentence, the noun, ‘tulpen’, is not present.
Definite and Indefinite Articles
Dutch articles might look similar to English ones at first, but there's a layer of grammatical gender to consider. The definite article de is used for common-gender nouns. For neuter nouns, het is used. Both would translate to "the" in English. For indefinite articles, you can use een to mean "a" or "an", but you will need to learn the gender for each noun.
5. Adjective and Adverb Placement
Adjectives and adverbs are different in Dutch. After all, Dutch adjectives often take extra endings depending on the noun's gender and definiteness. Adverbs can shift position for emphasis or rhythm. You have to learn where to place these descriptive words and how to adjust them if you want to sound more natural and precise in conversation.
Order of Adverbs
The Dutch adverbs generally follow the Time-Manner-Place sequence. In English, adverbs have a more flexible order. For example, Ik ga morgen met de trein naar Amsterdam translates literally as “I go tomorrow by train to Amsterdam". In English, this would sound more natural to say "I'm going to Amsterdam by train tomorrow".
Adjective Agreement
Adjectives in Dutch have to agree with gender and definiteness, which doesn't happen in English. When a noun is preceded by a definite article or another determiner, it usually takes the -e ending. For example, de grote hond (“the big dog”) or het kleine huis (“the small house”). However, when the noun is indefinite and neuter, the adjective stays uninflected, een klein huis (“a small house”).
English Sentence Structure
- Generally follows a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) order.
- Verbs stay together (finite and non-finite).
- Uses auxiliary verbs (“do”, “will”, “have”) for questions and negatives.
- Adverbs have flexible placement depending on emphasis.
- Example: I’m going to Amsterdam by train tomorrow.
Dutch Sentence Structure
- Also uses SVO, but verbs can move to the end in subordinate clauses.
- No auxiliary “do” in questions or negation.
- Adverbs often follow the Time–Manner–Place pattern.
- Verb placement changes after adverbials or in subordinate clauses.
- Example: Ik ga morgen met de trein naar Amsterdam.
6. Practical Tips for Mastering Dutch Sentence Structure
Mastering Dutch grammar and word order won't happen overnight, so don't stress too much about it. Just remember that memorization alone won't help; you should combine several useful approaches, such as reading Dutch texts, listening to native speakers, and forming your own sentences aloud.
- 🧠 Learn patterns, not rules: Focus on how word order changes in real contexts rather than memorising each exception.
- 🗣️ Practice inversion naturally: Try reading Dutch aloud and paying attention to when the verb moves.
- 📚 Think in Dutch syntax: Don’t translate word-for-word from English. Start forming sentences using Dutch rhythm and structure.
- 🕐 Remember adverb order: Time → Manner → Place.
- 💬 No auxiliary "do": Dutch questions and negations use word order, not helping verbs.
- ✍️ Keep a mini journal: Write one short paragraph a day in Dutch and review your word order patterns
Soon, these patterns will become second nature to you, especially if you break them down into smaller parts like the subject, verb, object, and modifiers. You'll see how they shift in different contexts and don't worry too much about making mistakes, as these will help you learn. To check that you've been paying attention, here's a quick quiz.
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Clear, concise explanations with examples.