Basic Dutch Sentence Structure (A1)

For simple, declarative sentences (statements), the most common word order in Dutch is similar to English:

Subject - Verb - (Rest)

• Subject: Who or what is doing the action (e.g., ik, de man, het huis).
• Verb: The action word, conjugated to match the subject (e.g., woon, eet, is).
• (Rest): This includes objects, time, place, manner, etc.

Examples:

• Ik woon in Amsterdam.
• Subject: Ik (I)
• Verb: woon (live)
• Rest: in Amsterdam (in Amsterdam - place)

• De vrouw drinkt koffie.
• Subject: De vrouw (The woman)
• Verb: drinkt (drinks)
• Rest: koffie (coffee - object)

• Wij leren Nederlands.
• Subject: Wij (We)
• Verb: leren (learn)
• Rest: Nederlands (Dutch - object)

• Het is vandaag mooi weer.
• Subject: Het (It)
• Verb: is (is)
• Rest: vandaag mooi weer (nice weather today - description + time)

Key Point: The conjugated verb is almost always the second element in a main clause statement. Even if you start with something else (like time), the verb comes next, followed by the subject (this is called inversion, covered later).

• Example: Vandaag woon ik in Amsterdam. (Today - Verb - Subject - Rest)