Dutch verb tenses: an overview of all eight tenses
All Dutch tenses in one place, from present to past conditional, with full examples for werken and gaan and clear rules for when to use each one.
Dutch has eight tenses, but don't panic: they are built from just three ingredients — the present tense, the simple past, and the helper verbs hebben, zijn, zullen and gaan. Once you see them side by side, the system turns out to be very tidy, and quite close to English.
This page puts every tense in one table, with a regular verb (werken, to work) and an irregular one (gaan, to go), and then explains when to use each.
All Dutch tenses at a glance
| Tense | werken (regular) | gaan (irregular) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | ik werk / wij werken | ik ga / wij gaan | I work / I go |
| Simple past | ik werkte / wij werkten | ik ging / wij gingen | I worked / I went |
| Present perfect | ik heb gewerkt | ik ben gegaan | I have worked / I have gone |
| Past perfect | ik had gewerkt | ik was gegaan | I had worked / I had gone |
| Future with zullen | ik zal werken | ik zal gaan | I will work / I will go |
| Future with gaan | ik ga werken | (not used: say ik ga or ik zal gaan) | I'm going to work |
| Future perfect | ik zal gewerkt hebben | ik zal gegaan zijn | I will have worked / gone |
| Conditional | ik zou werken | ik zou gaan | I would work / go |
| Past conditional | ik zou gewerkt hebben | ik zou gegaan zijn | I would have worked / gone |
Two things to notice:
- Werken uses hebben in the perfect tenses, gaan uses zijn, because it's a verb of movement to a place. That choice carries through every compound tense: had/was, zal … hebben/zijn, zou … hebben/zijn.
- In the future perfect and past conditional, both word orders at the end are correct: ik zal gewerkt hebben and ik zal hebben gewerkt.
The present (tegenwoordige tijd)
The present does more work in Dutch than in English. Use it for:
- Now and habits: Ik werk in Rotterdam. — I work in Rotterdam.
- Things happening right now, where English uses "-ing": Wat doe je? — What are you doing? If you want to stress that it's in progress, use aan het + infinitive: Ik ben aan het werken. — I'm working (at the moment).
- The future, especially with a time word: Morgen ga ik naar Utrecht. — I'm going to Utrecht tomorrow.
- Something that started in the past and is still true, with al or sinds: Ik woon hier al vijf jaar. — I have lived here for five years. English uses the perfect here; Dutch does not.
More in the present tense.
The two past tenses
Dutch has two ways to talk about the past, and they are often interchangeable. The difference is more about style than meaning.
Present perfect (voltooid tegenwoordige tijd) — hebben or zijn + participle. This is the default in conversation for a single, finished event:
- Ik heb gisteren lang gewerkt. — I worked late yesterday.
- We zijn naar het strand gegaan. — We went to the beach.
Note that English often uses the simple past here ("I worked", "we went"). In Dutch, the perfect is perfectly normal with words like gisteren.
Simple past (onvoltooid verleden tijd) — used for telling a story, describing a situation in the past, and past habits:
- Toen ik in Londen woonde, werkte ik in een café. — When I lived in London, I worked in a café.
- Vroeger ging ik elke zomer naar Frankrijk. — I used to go to France every summer.
- Het was koud en het regende. — It was cold and it was raining.
A practical rule: start a story with the perfect (Ik heb iets geks meegemaakt), then continue in the simple past. Read the perfect tense and the simple past for the forms, and the irregular verbs list for all the strong verbs.
The past perfect (voltooid verleden tijd)
Had or was + participle. Use it, as in English, for something that happened before another moment in the past:
- Toen ik aankwam, was de trein al vertrokken. — When I arrived, the train had already left.
- Ik had de hele dag gewerkt, dus ik was moe. — I had worked all day, so I was tired.
The future: zullen, gaan, or just the present
Dutch speakers use the zullen future much less than English speakers use "will". In everyday speech, you'll mostly hear:
- The present + a time word: Ik bel je morgen. — I'll call you tomorrow.
- Gaan + infinitive for plans and things about to happen: We gaan volgend jaar verhuizen. — We're going to move next year. Het gaat regenen. — It's going to rain.
Zullen + infinitive is used for promises, offers, suggestions, formal predictions, and to say something is probable:
- Ik zal je helpen. — I'll help you. (a promise)
- Zullen we gaan? — Shall we go?
- Het zal wel goed komen. — It'll probably be fine.
With gaan itself, Dutch normally avoids ik ga gaan; use the present (Ik ga morgen naar Gent) or zullen instead. See the future tense for more.
The future perfect (voltooid toekomende tijd)
Zullen + participle + hebben/zijn. It's rare in conversation, and mostly used to guess what has probably happened:
- Hij zal de trein wel gemist hebben. — He'll probably have missed the train.
- Om zes uur zal ik acht uur gewerkt hebben. — By six o'clock I will have worked eight hours.
- Ze zullen al naar huis gegaan zijn. — They will have gone home already.
The conditional (zou)
Zou/zouden + infinitive, like English "would". Use it for hypothetical situations, wishes and polite requests:
- Ik zou graag in het buitenland werken. — I would like to work abroad.
- Als ik meer geld had, zou ik minder werken. — If I had more money, I would work less.
- Zou je het raam dicht willen doen? — Would you close the window?
Note that the als clause usually uses the simple past (had), just like English. Unlike English, zou is also possible there: Als ik meer geld zou hebben, … Practise it in Conditional.
The past conditional (zou + perfect)
Zou + participle + hebben/zijn: what would have happened, but didn't.
- Ik zou gewerkt hebben, maar ik was ziek. — I would have worked, but I was sick.
- Als ik het had geweten, zou ik niet zijn gegaan. — If I had known, I wouldn't have gone.
In speech, Dutch often shortens this by using the past perfect in both halves: Als ik het had geweten, was ik niet gegaan. — If I had known, I wouldn't have gone. Both versions are correct. More in the past conditional.
How the helper verbs fit together
| Helper | Tenses it builds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hebben / zijn (present) | present perfect | ik heb gewerkt |
| hebben / zijn (past) | past perfect | ik had gewerkt |
| zullen (present) | future, future perfect | ik zal werken |
| zullen (past: zou) | conditional, past conditional | ik zou werken |
| gaan | informal future | ik ga werken |
In every compound tense, the helper takes second position in a main clause, and the participle or infinitive goes to the end. See Dutch word order.
- Ik heb gisteren in de tuin gewerkt. — I worked in the garden yesterday.
- Morgen zal ik vroeg vertrekken. — Tomorrow I will leave early.
Quick summary
- Present: also for the future, for actions in progress, and for "have been doing" with al or sinds.
- Present perfect: the everyday past in conversation. Simple past: stories, descriptions and habits.
- Past perfect (had/was + participle): before another past moment.
- Future: usually present + time word or gaan + infinitive; zullen for promises, suggestions and probability.
- Conditional (zou + infinitive) and past conditional (zou + participle + hebben/zijn), or had/was in both halves.
- Verbs that take zijn in the perfect (like gaan) take zijn in every compound tense.
Practise it
Build the past in The perfect tense and The imperfect, talk about plans in The future, and move on to Conditional, The pluperfect and The past conditional when you're ready.