Dutch Verbs Be and Have - Zijn and Hebben

Learn how to conjugate zijn and hebben in the present and past tenses in Dutch

Need more Dutch? Try the Learn Dutch Online course at Udemy or the audio and video podcasts at DutchPod101.com

Buy Dutch Language Tutorial as a PDF e-book! Dutch Language Tutorial includes a vocabulary and grammar review of the Dutch language (more than what is available online), with one hour of mp3 recordings by a native speaker, and Dutch realia photos taken in the Netherlands and Belgium so you can see how the language is used in real life. The PDF e-book and mp3s are available for immediate download with FREE lifetime updates. Thank you for supporting ielanguages.com! Download the first ten pages of Dutch Language Tutorial (including the table of contents).

Buy Dutch Language Tutorial

To download the Dutch mp3s, please purchase Dutch Language Tutorial.

Dutch Verbs To Be & to Have - Zijn and Hebben

Present tense of zijn - to be (zayn)

I am	ik ben	ik ben	we are	wij zijn	vay zayn
you are	jij / u bent	yay / ew bent	you are	jullie zijn	yew-lee zayn
he, she, it is	hij, zij, het is	hay, zay, ut is	they are	zij zijn	zay zayn

Present tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn)

I have	ik heb	ik hep	we have	wij hebben	vay heh-buhn
you have	jij / u hebt	yay / ew hept	you have	jullie hebben	yew-lee heh-buhn
he, she, it is	hij, zij, het heeft	hay, zay, ut hayft	they have	zij hebben	zay heh-buhn

U heeft rather than u hebt is also possible.

Past tense of zijn - to be (zayn)

I was	ik was	ik vas	we were	wij waren	vay vah-ruhn
you were	jij / u was	yay / ew vas	you were	jullie waren	yew-lee vah-ruhn
he, she, it was	hij, zij, het was	hay, zay, ut vas	they were	zij waren	zay vah-ruhn

Past tense of hebben - to have (heh-buhn)

I had	ik had	ik haht	we had	wij hadden	vay hah-duhn
you had	jij / u had	yay / ew haht	you had	jullie hadden	yew-lee hah-duhn
he, she, it had	hij, zij, het had	hay, zay, ut haht	they had	zij hadden	zay hah-duhn

You must use the subject pronouns; however, I will leave them out of future conjugations since most verbs only have two forms for each conjugation.

Expressions with zijn and hebben:

Het/dat is jammer - It's/that's a pity
jarig zijn - to have a birthday
kwijt zijn - to have lost
op het punt staan - to be about to
van plan zijn - to intend
voor elkaar zijn - to be in order
honger / dorst hebben - to be hungry / thirsty
gelijk hebben - to be right
haast hebben - to be in a hurry
het hebben over - to talk about
het druk hebben - to be busy
het koud hebben / warm - to be cold / warm
last hebben van - to be bothered by
nodig hebben - to need
slaap hebben - to be sleepy
zin hebben in - to feel like