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).
To download the Dutch mp3s, please purchase Dutch Language Tutorial.
In Dutch, there are four modals: kunnen - to be able to, can; moeten - to have to, must; mogen - to be allowed to, may; and willen - to want to. Modals can be used with other infinitives without the use of prepositions.
kunnen | moeten | mogen | willen | |
ik jij / u hij / zij / het wij jullie zij |
kan kan / kunt kan kunnen kunnen kunnen |
moet moet moet moeten moeten moeten |
mag mag mag mogen mogen mogen |
wil wil / wilt wil willen willen willen |
The -t of kunt and wilt are dropped in inversions with jij, but not with moet. Kan and kunt are used interchangeably for the second person singular form of kunnen, so jij kan and jij kunt as well as jij wil and jij wilt are both possible. The main difference is that kan and wil are considered slightly more informal with jij than kunt or wilt.
Common verbs, such as doen and gaan, can be omitted in Dutch after modals, but not in the English translation. In addition, impersonal constructions with het/dat + modals are used.
Dat kan. That's possible/can
be done.
Het moet. It must be done.
When modals are used with other verbs, the other verb is in the infinitive and placed at the end of the clause or sentence.
If you enjoy the tutorials, then please consider buying French, Informal French, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, or Dutch Language Tutorials as a PDF e-book with free mp3s and free lifetime updates.
Buy French TutorialPlease consider sending a donation of any amount to help support ielanguages.com. Thank you!
FluentU offers authentic videos in French, Spanish, German, English, Chinese and Japanese. Learn from captions and translations and enjoy access to ALL languages!
Learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and English with authentic videos by Yabla that include subtitles and translations.
Learn to read languages with interlinear bilingual books that include the original language and an English translation below in a smaller font.
Hundreds of free and paid online language learning video courses at Udemy. By native speakers and experts, from Arabic to Zulu.