The beautiful train station
Kunt u mij vertellen waar ik het station kan vinden.? - Can you tell me where I can find the (train) station?
Zeker, neem de derde straat aan uw rechter hand. - Certainly, take the third street on your right.
Als u de weg volgt, dan vindt u het station aan de linker kant. - If you follow the road, you'll find the station on your/the left-hand side.
Het is een prachtig gebouw. U kunt het niet missen. - It is a beautiful building. You cannot miss it.
Ik vind het wel - I'll find it (don't worry)
Hij volgt de weg en vindt zijn bestemming - he follows the road and finds his destination.
Dat gebouw ziet er inderdaad mooi uit. - That building looks beautiful indeed.
Vind je ook niet? - Wouldn't you agree? (Lit: Don't you find that also?)
Grammatica 5-1
Conjugation of verbs. Moods and present tense
Dutch has a relatively simple system of verbs with four moods and eight tenses. The Dutch verb has a few more endings than the English one. The simplest form is the first person singular of the present and the imperative mood. As in English it is simply the stem of the verb:
Ik vind - I find
Neem! - take!
There is a (rather archaic) plural of the imperative, that takes an extra -t:
Neemt! - take (you all!).
The third person (he/she) also acquires a final -t in the present. In English it gets a -s instead:
ik volg - I follow
hij volgt - he follows
In contrast to English this also applies to the second person:
jij vindt - you find (informal)
U kunt - you can (formal, polite)
However, the ending is lost for the informal jij form, when the word order is changed, e.g. when asking a question:
Vind je dat ook niet?
The Dutch verb has a 'plural' form that generally ends in -en, which is used for all plural persons and for the infinitive mood:
vertellen - to tell
wij nemen - we take
jullie volgen - you (all) follow
zij kunnen - they can
The infinitive can be used as a noun where English uses the gerund in -ing. It is always neuter in gender.
het vertellen van volkverhalen is een leuk tijdverdrijf.
the telling of folktales is a nice pastime.
het eten - the food, the meal
het eten is klaar! - dinner's ready!
Dutch does not have an -ing form. There is a present participle. It is used mostly as an adjective:
de week die volgt => de volgende week.
the week that follows => the following week.
volgend jaar
next year.
Some verbs are monosyllabic, e.g.:
zien - to see
ik zie - I see
hij ziet - he sees
zij zien - they see
The subjonctive mood is even rarer in Dutch than it is in English.
Men neme twee pond gehakt - one take two pounds of ground beef (minced meat).
Het zij zo. - be it so.
Of course, there are a number of irregular verbs in Dutch, but often they are the same ones as in English:
kunnen
ik kan - I can
jij kunt you can
hij kan - he can (no t - no s)
mogen
ik mag - I may
jij mag - you may
hij mag - he may (no t - no s)
Exercise 5.1
Read conversation 5.1 again and underline all verbs. Mark all endings as 0) - none 1) - t and 2) -en and identify in each case why this ending is used.
Exercise 5.2
Translate into Dutch:
1. Take the train!
2. Can you (inf.) tell folktales?
3. The station is in the next street
4. We can follow the road.
5. What is the street on the left called?
* Key
Grammatika 5-2
Personal pronouns
Many personal pronouns have a strong and a weak form:
mij,me - me (object)
jij,je - you (subject)
jou,je - you (object)
wij,we - we
zij,ze - they or she
hen,ze - them
The weak forms me, je, we en ze are used when the emphasis lies on some other part of the sentence. The strong form expresses mild emphasis.
Hij ziet me in de spiegel - He sees me in the mirror (not on television).
Hij ziet mij in de spiegel - He sees me in the mirror (not my mother).
In the spoken language there are more weak forms than in the written one, e.g. for he (ie), him ('m) and for her (d'r or 'r)
Dat heeft-ie niet gedaan - He ain't done it
Hij heeft 'r geslagen - He beat 'r up
Ze hebben 'm gezien -- They spotted him
For possessive pronouns the same holds. Compare:
Mijn motor is een Honda. Wat is jouw motor?
Ik wil graag een ritje op je motor maken.
mijn, m'n - my
jouw, je - your
zijn, z'n - his
haar, (d'r)- her
Again the spoken language has a clearer distinction than the written one. The forms m'n, z'n, and especially d'r are often written as mijn, zijn and haar in formal writing.
Woordenschat 5
zeker certain(ly), sure
inderdaad indeed
vertellen to tell
missen to miss
volgen to follow
zien to see
U kunt you can
de bestemming the destination
prachtig beautiful
mooi fine, pretty, beautiful
het station the trainstation
de kant the side
de weg the road
de spiegel the mirror
Content is available under GNU Free Documentation License Source: Wikibooks