Dutch Future Tense of Verbs

Learn how to conjugate verbs in the future tense in Dutch

   

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Dutch Future Tense

 

The future tense consists of a conjugated form of zullen and an infinitive placed at the end of the sentence. Except for the word order, this is similar to English will + an infinitive. The future tense can also be used to express probability.  When it does, wel is added to the sentence.

ik zal	wij zullen
jij, u zult / zal	jullie zullen
hij, zij het zal	zij zullen

 

Like the modals, either zult or zal can be used with jij and u. Both are considered correct.

 

De reis zal twee uur duren.  The trip will last two hours.
Wij zullen het wel weten.  We will probably know it.

The regular present tense can also express a future event with the use of time expressions.  This is common in English too.

Morgen gaan zij naar Rotterdam.  They're going to Rotterdam tomorrow.

Gaan and an infinitive at the end of the sentence can also be used to express the future.  This is equivalent to the English construction "going to + verb."

Ik ga een brief schrijven.  I'm going to write a letter.

Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect expresses "will have + past participle" and is as uncommon in Dutch as it is in English. Zullen is still used at the conjugated verb, but the past participle and infinitive of hebben (or zijn) are put at the end of the sentence.

Hij zal de krant gelezen hebben. He will have read the newspaper.

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