Dutch/Lesson 9

Intermediate level
Welcome to the first cycle of the intermediate level! This level will concentrate on building more complicated sentences using modal and auxiliary verbs, separable verbs and dependent clauses. That means that there is more grammar to cover but also that syntax -word order- will start to play a more important role, because you will learn to form more complicated sentences.

Future
The official future tense is formed using the auxiliary zullen + the infinitive

In Dutch this tense is called: de onvoltooid tegenwoordige toekomstige tijd (ottt), the imperfect present future tense. We shall revisit this nomenclature later.


 * ik vind - I find.
 * ik zal vinden - I'll find.

But you can also express the future by using a present, if futurity is declared in the sentence by an adverb (like 'tomorrow').


 * ik vind het wel - I find it.
 * ik zal het vinden - I'll find it.
 * ik vind het morgen wel - I'll find it tomorrow

Occasionally, Dutch resorts to the use of gaan:


 * dat gaat twee weken kosten - that is going to take two weeks.

In both cases the infinitive ends up at the end of the sentence.:


 * je het op de derde verdieping  - you  it on the fourth floor.

Zullen is an irregular verb (It is the cognate of shall):

Conditional or Future-in-past
Its past tense forms what it known as the onvoltooid verleden toekomstige tijd (ovtt), "the imperfect past future tense" that roughly corresponds to the conditional tense in English.


 * ik zeg - I say
 * ik zou zeggen - I would say

This tense is also used to express a future tense within the framework of a past narrative:


 * Hij zal komen
 * Hij zegt dat hij zal komen
 * Hij zei gisteren dat hij zou komen - He said yesterday: "I will come"

Infinitives instead of participles. Modal verbs
The verb zullen does not have a past participle, instead its infinitive is used in phrases like:


 * Ja, ik heb dat zullen doen, maar ik had geen tijd meer.
 * Yes I had intended to do so, but I ran out of time

Kunnen
There is a number of verbs that show this phenomenon, particularly the modal verbs. A good example is kunnen (can) although this verb does have a past participle and it can be used in separation:


 * ik kan dat niet - I cannot do that
 * ik heb dat nooit gekund - I have never been able to.
 * ik heb dat nooit kunnen doen - I have never been able to do that.

Sometimes this leads to lengthy strings of infinitives:


 * waar ik het zou hebben kunnen laten verlengen.
 * where I would have been able to have it extended.

Kunnen is an irregular verb as we have seen before. Its past tense is:


 * ik, jij, hij kon
 * wij, jullie, zij konden (could)


 * hij kon niet meer - he was exhausted (lit. he could no more)

Mogen
Mogen usually translates into may or to be allowed to, to be permitted. It too is irregular. Its primitive tenses are irregular:


 * mogen - mocht - gemogen, gemocht or gemoogd

In addition the present tense is:
 * ik mag
 * jij mag, u mag, gij moogt
 * hij mag
 * wij, jullie, zij mogen


 * Mag ik een kopje thee - May I have a cup of tea?
 * Je mag niet jokken! - You're not allowed to fib!

The perfect participle is only used when no other verb follows:


 * Hij heeft dat nooit gemogen - He has never been permitted that

Otherwise it is replaced by its infinitive:


 * Hij heeft dat nooit mogen doen. - He has never been permitted to do that.

Moeten
The English defective verb must is originally the past tense of a verb mote and Dutch both cognates (moet and moest) are still in use. The primitives are irregular:


 * moeten - moest -gemoeten

but otherwise the verb is regular. It means must or to have to


 * Ik moet vanavond werken - I have to work tonight.
 * Ik moet weg! - I got to go!

Its participle also often is replaced:


 * Hij heeft moeten werken - He has had to work.

Hoeven
This came from a similar word as the English behove

The primitives are mixed: hoeven - hoefde - gehoeven

This verb means need to, must but it is only used either in the negative:
 * Wij hoeven ons paspoort niet te verlengen -- We do not need to have our passport extenden

Or, with a limitation like only
 * Wij hoefden alleen maar een brief te sturen -- We only needed to send a letter.

Notice that it is followed by the extended infinitive' with the preposition te

Again the participle can be replaced by an infinitive:
 * Je had dat niet hoeven doen -- You did not need to do that.

In that case the extension te is dropped.

Laten
The verb laten corresponds to the English verb to let but is used somewhat differently. It is a regular strong verb:


 * Laat mij maar rijden - just let me drive
 * Dat zul je laten! - no, you won't!
 * Ik heb het zo gelaten - I left it the way it was
 * Hij liet zich niet kisten - He fought back. (lit. he did not let himself be put in a coffin.)
 * Iets laten maken - Have something fixed.
 * Laat maar! - Don't bother!
 * Hij kan het roken niet laten - He can't stop smoking.

Stative verbs: staan, zitten, liggen, lopen
All of these are strong verbs:

Scholars do not agree whether to consider these verbs as auxiliaries or not. Some do consider them aspect auxiliaries, because they often serve to express continuity in combination with the infinitive of other verbs extended with the preposition te:


 * Ik zit te lezen - I am reading (while on my chair)
 * Ik loop te denken - I am thinking (while going somewhere)

These verbs also frequently replace to be in impersonal expressions with er:


 * Er liggen drie boeken op tafel - there are three books (lying) on the table
 * Er zitten nog drie koekjes in de doos - there are still three cookies (sitting) in the box
 * Er loopt een goeie film - there is a good movie on.

The perfect of these expressions drop the "te" and use an infinitive to replace the past participle:


 * Ik heb zitten denken - I have been thinking (on my chair)
 * We hebben staan bellen - We have been on the phone (while on our feet)

Other verbs taking the extended infinitive
There are other verbs that are followed by the extended infinitive but drop the extension te in the perfect or future tenses.

Recall: "Dat zou ik niet durven zeggen" - I would not dare to say that.

In the present tense durven - to dare does take the extension:


 * Ik durf te zeggen dat.. - I dare say that..

Other such groepsvormende werkwoorden - verb that form groups are:


 * beginnen - to begin
 * (be)horen, dienen - ought, to be expected
 * the modal verbs /copulas blijken, lijken, schijnen, heten, dunken

Doen: to do
As in English this verb is irregular.

Its role is more restricted than in English, but at times it can be used as an auxiliary that turns an ergative into an active construction:


 * Het vet stolt - the grease solidifies
 * De koude doet het vet stollen - the cold makes the grease solidify

Again the perfect has an infinitive:


 * De koude heeft het vet doen stollen. - the cold has made the grease solidify

Quizlet
The vocabulary of this lesson can be practiced at Quizlet (26 terms)

Progress made
Cumulative term count


 * Beginner level 1053
 * Les 9 27


 * Total number of terms 1080