The perfect tense (Perfectum)

The perfect tense in Dutch

The perfect tense (Perfectum / voltooid tegenwoordige tijd) is the most common past tense in spoken Dutch. It looks like the English present perfect (I have done), but its use is much broader: Dutch speakers use it for almost any completed past event, even ones with a specific time reference. Where English says "I read a book yesterday" (simple past), Dutch happily says Ik heb gisteren een boek gelezen (perfect).

The structure:

auxiliary verb (hebben or zijn) + past participle (voltooid deelwoord)

The 't kofschip rule for regular verbs

To build the past participle of a regular verb, first find the stem (the infinitive minus -en). If the last letter of the stem is one of the consonants in the memory word 't kofschip (t, k, f, s, ch, p), the participle ends in -t; otherwise it ends in -d:

Note: the past participle usually starts with the prefix ge-.

Which auxiliary: hebben or zijn?

• Most verbs take hebben: Ik heb gewerkt. — I have worked.
• Verbs of movement to a destination and change of state take zijn: Ik ben gegaan. — I have gone. / Hij is gestorven. — He has died.

English uses "have" for everything, so watch out for the zijn verbs: gaan, komen, blijven, worden, zijn itself, and movement toward a destination.

Position of the past participle

The past participle goes to the end of the sentence:

Ik heb gisteren een boek gelezen. — I read a book yesterday.
Wij zijn naar Amsterdam gegaan. — We went to Amsterdam.

Common irregular participles