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The simple future
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By Bieneke Berendsen

For the future tense, we use the auxiliary verb zullen (will). At least, this is what we are taught at school. In every day's Dutch, we use other ways to express that an event takes place in the future. On the next page, you can read more about the use of the future tense.

zullen is an irregular verb.

ik zal + infinitive we zullen + infinitive
je zult/zal + infinitive jullie zullen + infinitive
hij zal + infinitive ze zullen + infinitive

Je zult and je zal have the same meaning and both are equally correct. Some people prefer to use 'zult', others like 'zal' better.

Examples

  • praten (to talk) and luisteren (to listen)
praten stem: praat luisteren stem: luister
ik zal praten ik zal luisteren
je zult/zal praten je zult/zal luisteren
hij zal praten hij zal luisteren
we zullen praten we zullen luisteren
jullie zullen praten jullie zullen luisteren
ze zullen praten ze zullen luisteren
  • vallen (to fall) and betalen (to pay)
vallen stem: val betalen stem: betaal
ik zal vallen ik zal betalen
je zult/zal vallen je zult/zal betalen
hij zal vallen hij zal betalen
we zullen vallen we zullen betalen
jullie zullen vallen jullie zullen betalen
ze zullen vallen ze zullen betalen

A very useful web site is web linkwww.verbix.com. It conjugates Dutch verbs for you in all eight tenses.

Note that the examples above give you the unstressed personal pronouns. Some pronouns change when they are stressed in a phrase: je/jij, we/wij, ze/zij (both singular and plural).


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Last updated on July 06, 2008 ::