Introduction: Getting Simple Answers

As we saw briefly in the last chapter, Yes/No questions are those that can typically be answered with a simple ja (yes) or nee (no). They are essential for confirming information or making simple inquiries. Forming them in Dutch requires a straightforward change to the basic sentence structure.

The Golden Rule: Verb First!

To turn a simple statement into a Yes/No question, you perform inversion: you swap the positions of the conjugated verb and the subject.

• Statement Structure: Subject --- Verb --- (Rest).
• Yes/No Question Structure: Verb --- Subject --- (Rest)?

The conjugated verb moves from the second position in the statement to the first position in the question.

Examples Across Different Verbs

Let's see how this works with the verbs we've learned (zijn, hebben, regular verbs):

With zijn (to be):

• Statement: Hij is thuis. (He is at home.)
• Question: Is hij thuis? (Is he at home?)

• Statement: Jullie zijn studenten. (You are students - plural inf.)
• Question: Zijn jullie studenten? (Are you students?)

• Statement: U bent moe. (You are tired - formal)
• Question: Bent u moe? (Are you tired?)

With hebben (to have):

• Statement: Zij heeft een hond. (She has a dog.)
• Question: Heeft zij een hond? (Does she have a dog?)

• Statement: Wij hebben tijd. (We have time.)
• Question: Hebben wij tijd? (Do we have time?)

• Statement: Je hebt een pen. (You have a pen - singular inf.)
• Question: Heb je een pen? (Do you have a pen?)

(Note: jij hebt becomes heb je?)

With Regular Verbs (e.g., wonen - to live, werken - to work):

• Statement: Hij woont in Breda. (He lives in Breda.)
• Question: Woont hij in Breda? (Does he live in Breda?)

• Statement: Jij werkt op zaterdag. (You work on Saturday - singular inf.)
• Question: Werk jij op zaterdag? (Do you work on Saturday?)

(Remember: the -t is dropped from the verb when jij/je follows in a question! werkt -> werk)

• Statement: Zij leren snel. (They learn quickly.)
• Question: Leren zij snel? (Do they learn quickly?)

Answering Yes/No Questions

The simplest way to answer is:

• Ja. (Yes.)
• Nee. (No.)

You can also add more information, often by repeating the verb or using dat (that) or het (it).

• Spreek jij Nederlands?
• Ja.
• Ja, ik spreek Nederlands.
• Ja, een beetje. (Yes, a little bit.)

• Is hij leraar?
• Nee.
• Nee, hij is geen leraar. (No, he is not a teacher.) Using geen for negation of nouns will be covered later.
• Nee, hij is arts. (No, he is a doctor.)

• Wonen jullie hier?
• Ja.
• Ja, wij wonen hier.

Forming basic Yes/No questions is straightforward: put the conjugated verb first. Remember the special spelling rule for questions with jij/je where the verb usually loses its -t. Practice turning statements you know into questions.