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The 'te' continuous "I am working"
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English version by Bieneke Berendsen :: other languages
In Dutch, we have another way for forming the continuous. A formal term probably does exist, but we will simply call it the 'te-continuous'.

Using this type of continuous, you express the physical situation of the subject. We use the verbs Internal link liggen (lie), Internal link zitten (sit), Internal link staan (stand), Internal link lopen (walk), and Internal link hangen (to hang) as auxiliary verbs. We also use hangen sometimes but this is less common.

The te-continuous is formed by:

hangen  liggen  lopen  staan  zitten
+ te + infinitive
Examples:

Hij ligt te slapen He (lies) is sleeping
Ik zit te lezen I (sit) am reading
Hij staat te koken He (stands) is cooking
Ik loop te zingen I (walk) am singing
Ze hangen maar te nietsen They (hang around) are not doing anything


The perfect tense

The perfect tense of the te-continuous is similar to the perfect 'aan het'-continuous: We omit the preposition (te).

Hij heeft liggen slapen He has been sleeping
Ik heb zitten lezen I have been reading
Hij heeft staan koken He has been cooking
Ik heb lopen zingen I have been singing
De was heeft hangen drogen The laundry has been drying

Note that here too, the perfect tense does not get a past participle (see Internal link auxiliary verbs and the past participle). Instead, hebben is followed by an infinitive of liggen, staan, lopen, zitten or hangen.
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