The Dutch subjunctive: leve, het zij zo, men neme and more
Dutch has a subjunctive, but only in fixed formulas. Learn leve, moge, het zij zo, zij het, koste wat het kost and the genitives that go with them.
Ask a Dutch speaker whether their language has a subjunctive and most will say no. Then they'll shout Lang leve de koning! on King's Day, shrug Het zij zo when a plan falls through, and write zij het met enige vertraging in a report. All three are subjunctives. The aanvoegende wijs, as Dutch grammar calls it, is no longer a living verb form you can apply to any verb, but it has left behind a set of fixed formulas that every advanced speaker needs to recognise and use correctly.
This guide covers how the forms are built, the formulas that are still in everyday use, the ones that only survive in solemn or jokey contexts, and the old genitive forms that tend to keep them company.
How the subjunctive was formed
The present subjunctive used the stem + -e for all persons. The verb zijn had its own form, zij. There was also a past subjunctive, of which only ware (from zijn) is still in use.
| Infinitive | Indicative (hij) | Subjunctive | Survives in |
|---|---|---|---|
| leven | hij leeft | leve | Leve de koning! |
| mogen | hij mag | moge | Moge het je goed gaan. |
| kosten | het kost | koste | koste wat het kost |
| nemen | men neemt | men neme | Men neme drie eieren. |
| gaan | het gaat | ga | Het ga je goed. |
| zijn | het is | zij | Het zij zo., zij het |
| zijn (past) | het was | ware | als het ware, ware het niet dat |
Two things to notice. First, zij here is a verb, not the pronoun "she" or "they": het zij zo means "so be it". Second, ga in Het ga je goed looks like the imperative, but the subject is het, so it's a wish, not an order.
The crucial point for learners: you can't make new subjunctives. You can't express a wish or instruction like "Hij kome morgen" (let him come tomorrow) in ordinary speech; it would sound like a parody of a nineteenth-century novel. Learn the formulas as vocabulary.
Wishes and exclamations
The main job of the old subjunctive was to express a wish. These formulas are alive today, though their tone varies.
- Leve de koning! — Long live the king!
- Lang leve de vrijheid! — Long live freedom!
- God zij dank! — Thank God! (also written as one word, godzijdank, when used as an adverb: Godzijdank was er niemand thuis.)
- Moge het nieuwe jaar je veel geluk brengen. — May the new year bring you much happiness.
- Het ga je goed. — Farewell, all the best.
Leve is extremely productive in a playful way: banners and social media posts say Leve de vrijdag!, Leve de lente! or Leve de fiets! It's the one subjunctive form people use creatively. Moge and Het ga je goed are solemn: you'll find them in speeches, condolence cards and farewells.
Tip: don't confuse leve with lang leve. Both are fine, but lang leve is especially common with people and for a birthday: Lang zal ze leven is the birthday song, and Lang leve de jarige! is a toast to the birthday boy or girl.
Formulas that are normal everyday Dutch
Some subjunctive formulas don't sound old-fashioned at all. Native speakers use them without thinking of them as special grammar; only ware het niet dat is distinctly formal.
| Formula | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| zij het | albeit | Het plan werkt, zij het met enige vertraging. — The plan works, albeit with some delay. |
| als het ware | as it were, so to speak | Hij is als het ware de vader van het project. — He is, as it were, the father of the project. |
| koste wat het kost | at all costs | Ze wil koste wat het kost winnen. — She wants to win at all costs. |
| het zij zo | so be it | We hebben verloren. Het zij zo. — We lost. So be it. |
| ware het niet dat | were it not that | Ik was gekomen, ware het niet dat ik ziek was. — I would have come, were it not that I was ill. |
A few usage notes:
- Zij het is followed by a phrase, not a full clause: Ik kom, zij het iets later. — I'll come, albeit a little later. If you need a full clause, switch to hoewel: Het plan werkt, hoewel het wat vertraging heeft opgelopen. — The plan works, although it has run into some delay.
- Ware het niet dat introduces a subclause, so the verb goes to the end: Ik was op tijd geweest, ware het niet dat de trein uitviel. — I would have been on time, were it not that the train was cancelled. It's formal and written; in speech people say maar de trein viel uit.
- Koste wat het kost is a fixed phrase: keep the subjunctive koste at the start and het kost at the end.
- Het zij zo expresses resigned acceptance. In a heated discussion it can also sound curt: Als je dat liever wilt, het zij zo. — If you'd rather have it that way, so be it.
Men neme: instructions with a wink
Old recipes, manuals and textbooks gave instructions with men + subjunctive: Men neme 200 gram bloem. Men lette op de temperatuur. This is now completely archaic. Modern recipes use the imperative or an infinitive:
- Neem 200 gram bloem. — Take 200 grams of flour.
- 200 gram bloem afwegen. — Weigh out 200 grams of flour.
So why learn it? Because Dutch speakers still use men neme jokingly, to give a mock-solemn recipe for anything: Men neme een regenachtige zondag, een dekentje en een goed boek. — Take one rainy Sunday, a blanket and a good book. Recognising the style lets you get the joke, and using it with a wink shows real command of the language.
A related relic is men zie, still found in reference works as "see": men zie hoofdstuk 3. Modern texts just write zie hoofdstuk 3.
Genitive remnants: des, der and 's lands
Subjunctive formulas often appear in the same solemn style as the old genitive case. The basic forms are explained in old case forms; here's what matters at C2 level.
- des + noun with -(e)s for masculine and neuter nouns: de heer des huizes (the master of the house), de dag des oordeels (the day of judgement), des duivels zijn (to be furious).
- der for feminine and plural nouns: in naam der wet (in the name of the law), het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal.
- 's (shortened des): 's lands wijs, 's lands eer (when in Rome, do as the Romans do), 's avonds, 's-Hertogenbosch.
| Phrase | Literal | Used today |
|---|---|---|
| de heer des huizes | the master of the house | ironic or old-fashioned |
| des duivels zijn/worden | to be of the devil | normal, a bit colourful |
| in naam der wet | in the name of the law | fixed formula, also jokey |
| 's lands wijs, 's lands eer | the country's way, the country's honour | normal proverb |
| een der beste | one of the best | formal; everyday is een van de beste |
Two common errors to avoid:
- Using the wrong article for the gender. Huis is neuter, so it's des huizes. Wrong: der huizes.
- Building new genitives in normal prose. Wrong: de auto des buurmans. Say de auto van de buurman.
When to use these forms yourself
At C2 level the question isn't whether you understand these forms but whether you use them in the right place. A rough guide:
- Use freely: zij het, als het ware, koste wat het kost, het zij zo, God zij dank, leve…!, 's lands wijs, 's lands eer.
- Use in formal writing: ware het niet dat, moge…, een der…, het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden and other official names.
- Use only with a wink: men neme, de heer des huizes, in naam der wet outside a police context.
- Don't build new ones: no new subjunctives, no new des/der genitives.
You'll meet these forms most in literary texts (see literary Dutch) and in official and legal documents (see legal Dutch), where formulas like het bepaalde in and ten behoeve van keep the same old-fashioned flavour.
Quick summary
- The aanvoegende wijs is stem + -e (leve, moge, koste), zij for zijn and the past form ware. It's no longer productive.
- Wishes: Leve de koning!, Lang leve…!, God zij dank!, Moge…, Het ga je goed.
- Everyday formulas: zij het (albeit), als het ware, koste wat het kost, het zij zo; formal: ware het niet dat.
- Men neme is archaic and now used jokingly.
- Genitive remnants (des huizes, in naam der wet, 's lands wijs) are fixed; don't build new ones.
Practise it
Drill the formulas and genitive phrases in Subjunctive & archaic forms, see them in elevated prose in Literary style, and meet their bureaucratic cousins in Legal & administrative Dutch.