Spelling
Verbs in the present tense
Ik word, jij wordt, word je, hij wordt: they all sound the same. Find the stem, apply one rule about the t, and you spell every form correctly, even when you cannot hear the d.
Topics
All topics
Pick a topic. Every topic starts with a question, shows a picture to play with, explains the rule and lets you practise.
16 topics
Spelling
Verbs with d and t, the past tense, plurals, capital letters and words joined or apart.
- Spelling
The past tense and 't kofschip
Do you write werkte or werkde? Look at the last letter of the stem: if it appears in 't kofschip, the past tense ends in -te, and otherwise in -de.
- Spelling
The past participle
Is it gebeurd or gebeurt? Build the past participle from ge + stem + t or d, drop the ge- after prefixes like be- and ver-, and use a simple test to hear which letter to write.
- Spelling
The plural
Is it bomen or boomen, auto's or autos? A Dutch plural ends in -en or -s, and the spelling sometimes shifts. Splitting the word into sound groups shows you how to write it.
- Spelling
Capital letters and punctuation
Is it maandag or Maandag, Belgisch or belgisch? Dutch uses capitals for names and the start of a sentence, and punctuation tells you how to read a sentence.
- Spelling
Joined or separate
Dutch writes compound words as one word, like pannenkoek and voetbalveld, sometimes with an extra n or s in the middle. A few word groups, such as te veel, stay separate.
Grammar
Word classes, "de" or "het", parts of a sentence and the extra -e on adjectives.
- Grammar
Parts of speech
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, prepositions: every word in a sentence has its own job. A few simple questions help you tell them apart.
- Grammar
De or het
Every Dutch noun takes either de or het. A handful of rules cover many words, the rest you learn together with the word, and the article affects more words than you might think.
- Grammar
Finite verb, subject and verbal predicate
The finite verb is the heart of every Dutch sentence. Once you find it, the subject and the verbal predicate follow, and spelling verbs stops being guesswork.
- Grammar
The adjective and the e
Why is it een groot huis but het grote huis? Learn when a Dutch adjective takes an extra e, and how that e can change the spelling.
Vocabulary
Synonyms and opposites, proverbs and prepositions that always go with a word.
- Vocabulary
Synonyms and opposites
Words with nearly the same meaning, like vaak and dikwijls, keep your writing varied. Opposites, like warm and koud, help you say exactly what you mean.
- Vocabulary
Proverbs and expressions
In a Dutch saying like de kat uit de boom kijken, the words say one thing and the meaning is something else entirely. Learn to read these sayings the way they are meant.
- Vocabulary
Prepositions and fixed combinations
In Dutch you wacht op, denkt aan and bent bang voor. Many verbs and adjectives come with a fixed preposition, and the easiest way is to learn each pair as one block.
Reading and writing
Linking words, a good paragraph, a formal email, and standard language next to everyday speech.
- Reading and writing
Understanding texts with signal words
Small words like want, maar, daarom and bovendien show how sentences hang together. Spot them and you understand a text faster, and your own writing gets better too.
- Reading and writing
A good paragraph and a formal email
Start with a key sentence, keep a clear order, and pick the right greeting and sign-off. That is how you write a paragraph that is easy to follow and an email that people take seriously.
- Reading and writing
Standard Dutch and in-between Dutch
With friends you might say ge and gij, in an email to school je and u. Flemish in-between Dutch is not wrong, but it does not fit everywhere, so you learn to choose the language that suits the moment.