Dutch Auxiliary Verbs

Dutch Auxiliary Verbs

An auxiliary verb is a verb that supports another verb. It is derived from the Latin wordauxilium, meaning help or aid. A sentence can contain more than one auxiliary verb.In Dutch, we often need to place one or two extra words between the auxiliary verb and the independent verb: many auxiliary verbs require the little wordte in the continuous we addaan hetThere is, however, a substantial list of auxiliary verbs that behave the same in English: no funny extra words are needed. The auxiliary verbs are simply followed by a 'bare' infinitive. This also goes for auxiliary verbs that precede the past participle.For most Dutch learners, using 'aan het' is not a problem. After all, it is only used in one particular grammar construction (the continuous).The distinction between auxiliary verbs that require 'te' + infinitive and those that are followed by only a bare infinitive is more problematic. The logic is not as clear (if at all) as that of the 'aan het' construction. You can choose to randomly throw in 'te' whenever you feel like it, but you will only be right about half of the time. The only way to get around this is by learning thelists of verbsby heart ..

Summarizing the auxiliary verbs

In general, the independent verb follows after the auxiliary verb(s).We can distinguish four main types of auxiliary verb constructions:Auxiliary verb + past participlehebbento havezijnto be

wordento becomerakento get

When the past participle itself serves as an auxiliary verb, the past participle turns into an infinitive.Auxiliary verb +te+ infinitive A list of "that - verbs"bewerento claimblijkento appear

denkento thinkhopento hope

lijkento seemmenento mean

schijnento seemwensento wish

hebbento havehoevento need

komento come (to)----

A list of "om - verbs"aanmoedigento encouragestrevento strive

bedoelento intend, meanverlangento long for

belovento promiseverzoekento request

bevelento commandvragen omto ask for

opdragento commandwensento wish

proberento try----

The 'te' continuouszittento sitliggento lie

lopento walkstaanto stand

hangento hang----

All verbs that followalvorens, door, in plaats van, na,andzonder. Theverbableblijven teto remain -ablezijn teto be -able

vallento be -able----

Durven, hoeven, hebben, and komendurvento darehoevento have to

hebben teto have tokomento 'will happen'

Auxiliary verb + bare infinitive Modal verbsblijvento stay, keepgaanto go

komento comekunnento be able

moetento have tomogento be allowed

willento wantzullen'to' will

Transitive auxiliary verbshorento hearvindento find

voelento feelziento see

Auxiliary verb +aan het+ infinitiveThis construction is exclusively reserved for the'aan het' continuous.The auxiliary verb is alwayszijn(to be).

Independent verbs

A verb that is not an auxiliary verb, is called an independent verb.In general, a phrase has exactly one independent verb. This verb is used to specify the action of the sentence.If there are any other verbs, those are auxiliary verbs. These verbs are used to indicate when or how the specified action takes place (presently, in the future, voluntarily, compulsory, possibly, etc.).The auxiliary verb(s) is initalics, the independent verbbold.Ikeeteen broodje.Ieata sandwich.

Ikzaleen broodjeeten.Iwilleata sandwich.

Ikzalaltijd broodjesblijveneten.Iwill keepeatingsandwiches forever.

In the last example,zal(or will) is the auxiliary verb forblijven(or keep), which is in turn an auxiliary verb foreten(or eating). In the second example,zal(or will) is the auxiliary verb foreten(or eat)It should be clear that an auxiliary verb can also function as an independent verb:Ikwileen ijsje.Iwantan ice cream.

Ikwileen ijsjeeten.Iwould liketoeatan ice cream.

Ikzoudatwillen.Iwouldlikethat.

ikwilslapen.Iwanttosleep.

The verbwillenserves as an independent verb in the first and third example but it is an auxiliary verb in the second and fourth example (supportingetenandslapen).In general, the independent verb follows after the auxiliary verbs. You can also place it before an auxiliary verb, but this is not always allowed.Four types of auxiliary verbsWe can distinguish four main types of auxiliary verb constructions: auxiliary verb + past participle auxiliary verb +te+ infinitive auxiliary verb + bare infinitive auxiliary verb +aan het+ infinitiveIn the following sections, each type will be discussed. Unfortunately, each type has its own sub-types. A lot of reading, but once you have read it all, you know all possible types of auxiliary verbs.

Auxiliary verbs and the past participle

Past participlesare used in theperfect tenseand thepassive voice.There are three verbs that can be connected with a past participle:hebbenandzijnfor the perfect tense andzijnandwordenfor the passive voice.

hebbento haveLoes heeft het boek gelezenLoes has read the book

zijnto beMieke is op tijd gekomenMieke has come on time

wordento becomeMartijn wordt verwendMartijn is (being) spoiled

In the perfect tense, most past participles are preceded by a conjugation ofhebben.There are, however, a few verbs that also takezijnas an auxiliary verb.

Hebben or zijn?Past participles that takezijn:Most past participles that exclusively take zijn are either: Verbs that indicate movement, a development or a change. E.g.komen(to come),beginnen(to begin),sterven(to die), andkrimpen(to shrink). Link verbs, e.g.:blijkenandvoorkomen(to appear),blijven(to stay),lijkenandschijnen(to seem),raken(to get, to become), andworden(to become). See alsolink verbs.Past participles that take bothzijnandhebbenA number of past participles can take both hebben and zijn. This concerns verbs that: Indicate movement: You have to usezijnif you are talking about moving from or into a certain direction. You usehebbenif the direction is not mentioned or implied. I wrote 'implied', because there are verbs that implicitly mention a direction, e.g.uitvaren(to sail out),binnenspringen(to jump inside, to drop by),langslopen(to walk by, to pass by), andopklimmen(to climb up, to rise). Can be both transitive (requiring a direct object) and intransitive. If the verb is used transitively, we usehebben; for intransitive verbs, we usezijn. For example:, in "De tijden zijn veranderd" ("Times have changed"),veranderenis intransitive, but in "Ze heeft het verhaal veranderd" ("She has changed the story"),veranderenis transitive.Transitive and reflexive verbs always take hebbenTransitive and reflexive verbs always takehebben, even if they would otherwise fall under one of the'zijn-categories'.Examples of verbs of movement that can take bothhebbenandzijnWandelen:to walk, to strollNO DIRECTIONIkhebop straat gewandeld.I have walked in the street.

DIRECTIONIkbennaar huis gewandeld.I have walked home.

Lopen(strong verb): to walkNO DIRECTIONIkhebop hoge hakken gelopen.I have walked on high heels.

DIRECTIONIkbennaar binnen gelopen.I have walked in.

Klimmen(strong verb): to climbNO DIRECTIONIkhebin de Alpen geklommen.I have climbed in the Alps.

DIRECTIONIkbennaar de top geklommen.I have climbed to the top.

NO DIRECTIONIkhebveel geklommen.I have climbed a lot.

DIRECTIONIkbenop het dak geklommen.I have climed on the roof.

Springen(strong verb): to jumpNO DIRECTIONIkhebin de rivier gesprongen.I have jumped in the river (while I was already in it).

DIRECTIONIkbenin de rivier gesprongen.I have jumped into the river.

NO DIRECTIONIkhebop mijn fiets gesprongen.I have jumped on my bicycle (while I was already on it).

DIRECTIONIkbenop mijn fiets gesprongen.I got (jumped) on my bicycle.

Rijden(strong verb): to drive, to rideNO DIRECTIONIkhebde hele dag in die auto gereden.I have driven in that car all day.

DIRECTIONIkbenmet de auto naar Antwerpen gereden.I have driven to Antwerp by car.

NO DIRECTIONHijheeftnog nooit met een motor gereden.He has never ridden a motorbike.

DIRECTIONZeismet de motor naar Frankrijk gereden.She has ridden to France on a motorbike.

Verbs likevallen(to fall) andzinken(to sink) only takezijn. You may wonder what the difference is with, for example,klimmen(to climb), which can take bothhebbenandzijn.You could argue that you can fall from a riverbank into the river (which clearly indicates a direction -> zijn), but you can also say that you simply fell (no direction specified -> hebben). Yetvallennever takeshebben. Indeed, a difficult case. The subtle distinction that I see is thatvallenandzinkenare not activities; they have no intended direction or destination. Instead, they are events that happen to the agent. Seeing it this way, you could say that a person's state changed from 'not-fallen' to 'fallen' or from 'not-sunk' to 'sunk'. As mentioned above, we also usezijnfor past participles that indicate a certain change. Admittedly, the distinction between zijn and hebben past participles is sometimes a bit vague.Past participles that can be both transitive and intransitiveFor intransitive verbs, we usezijn, for transitive verbs, we usehebben.Bederven(strong verb): to go bad (intransitive), to ruin (transitive)INTRANSITIVEDe melkisbedorven.The milk has gone bad.

TRANSITIVEHijheefthet feestje bedorven.He has ruined the party.

Scheiden(strong verb): to divorce (intransitive), to separate (transitive)INTRANSITIVEZezijnvorig jaar gescheiden.They got divorced last year.

TRANSITIVEWehebbende honden van de katten gescheiden.We have separated the dogs from the cats.

Genezen(strong verb): to heal (intransitive), to cure (transitive)INTRANSITIVEDe wondissnel genezen.The wound has healed fast.

TRANSITIVEDe artsheefthaar genezen.The doctor has cured her.

Sluiten(strong verb): to close (intransitive and transitive)INTRANSITIVEHet cafisvorig jaar gesloten.The cafe closed down last year.

TRANSITIVEHebje de deur gesloten?Have you closed the door?

Smelten (strong verb): to melt (intransitive and transitive)INTRANSITIVEHet ijsisgesmolten.The ice has melted.

TRANSITIVEWehebbenhet zink met een soldeerbout gesmolten.We have melted the zinc with a soldering iron.

Past participle turning into an infinitive

In Dutch, a past participle cannot serve as an auxiliary verb. To make the verb act as an auxiliary verb, we must transform the past participle into an infinitive:when the past participleitselfserves as an auxiliary verb,it turns into an infinitiveIn the examples below, the auxiliary verbs are in italics, the independent verbs in bold. The verbs that undergo a transformation from participle to infinitive are underlined.Note, how the independent participle turns into an infinitive when it serves as an auxiliary verb to support another (independent) verb.Annelieshadeen ijsjegewild.Annelieshadwantedan ice-cream.

Thijmenhadeen ijsjewilleneten(not: gewild eten).Thijmenhadwantedtohavean ice-cream.

The independent participlegewildturns into the infinitivewillenwhen it has to supporteten.Sanneisnaar Amsterdamgekomen.Sannehascometo Amsterdam.

Liesbethiskomenlopen(not: gekomen lopen).Liesbethhas comewalking(lit).

The past participlegekomenbecomes the infinitivekomen.Wehebbeneen uurstaanwachten(not: gestaan wachten).Wehave beenwaitingfor an hour.

Ikhadbetermoetenweten(not: gemoeten weten).Ishould haveknownbetter.

The above only applies to the situation where the past participle serves as an auxiliary verb. Consider the following example:Amirzou zijngekomen.Amirwould havecome.

Here, the past participle is the independent verb and hence does not turn into an infinitive.

'Te' + infinitiveSome auxiliary verbs cannot be followed by a bare infinitive: we need to place the prepositiontebefore the infinitive. In English, we have the same phenomenon. We say "I wanttosing" not "I want sing". On the other hand, we do not say "I can to sing" because 'can' is normally followed by a bare infinitive.When you go through the next pages, you will find that Dutch and English are quite similar.If you do not feel like reading about all the different instances of infinitive + te, you can also scroll through thelist of te-verbs.All in all, there are six situations where we usete+ infinitive:te-continuous: "Ik sta te wachten."verbable: "Het is niet te doen."durven, hebben, hoeven, komen: "Ze durft te zingen."that-verbs: "Hij zegt te komen."om-verbs: "Ze proberen (om) te vliegen."Afteralvorens, door, in plaats van, na, zonder: "Hij stak over zonder te kijken."

List of 'te' + infinitive verbsIn the table below, the most common te-verbs are listed.

(iemand) aanmoedigen om teto encourage someone toom verbs

bedoelen om teto intend, to meanom verbs

(iemand) bevelen (om) teto order toom verbs

belovento promisedat verbsandom verbs

beweren teto claim todat verbs

blijken teto appear todat verbs

blijven*to stay, remainverbable

denken teto think todat verbs

durven teto dare toprepositions

(iemand) dwingen (om) teto force someone toom verbs

hangen teto be engaged in (while hanging (around))te-continuous

hebben te*to have toprepositions

hoeven teto need toprepositions

hopen teto hope todat verbs

komen te*to come toprepositions

liggen teto be engaged in (while lying)te-continuous

lijken teto seem todat verbs

lopen teto be engaged in (while walking)te-continuous

menen teto mean todat verbs

bevelen teto command, orderom verbs

proberen (om) teto try toom verbs

schijnen teto seem todat verbs

staan teto be engaged in (while standing)te-continuous

(ernaar) streven om teto strive, aspireom verbs

(iemand) verbieden (om) teto prohibit someone toom verbs

(ernaar) verlangen om teto desire, long forom verbs

(iemand) verzoeken (om) teto request someone toom verbs

vallen*to fallverbable

vragen (om) teto ask toom verbs

wensen teto wish todat verbsandom verbs

zijn te*to beverbable

zitten teto be engaged in (while sitting)te-continuous

The verbs that follow afteralvorens, door, in plaats van, na, and zonderare not mentioned in the list.The reason is that for these verbs, the presence of 'te' does not depend on the verb itself. It could be any verb, as long as it is preceded byalvorens, door, in plaats van, na, orzonder. Which in turn is followed by 'te'. In the table above, the presence of 'te' is determined by the verb itself.(*) This verb also occurs without 'te', with a different meaning.

'Te' + infinitive: 'te' continuous

The verbs that we use to form thete-continuousneed to be followed byte+infinitive. The verbs that we use for this purpose are:

hangento hangde was hangt te drogenthe laundry is drying (while hanging)

liggento lieik lig op bed te slapenI am sleeping on the bed

lopento walkde juf loopt op straat te zingenthe teacher (f) is singing in the

staanto standwij staan op de trein te wachtenwe are waiting for the train

zittento sitEvelien zit aandachtig te lezenEvelien is reading carefully

'Te' + infinitive: the verbableTheverbableis not averbbut anadjective.Thus, the verb preceding the verbableis not an auxiliary verb!It is, in fact, alink verb.The verbable is usually preceded by thelink verbsblijven, vallenorzijn(these are allirregular verbs).blijvento stayhet blijft te proberenit remains possible to try

vallento fallhet valt te proberenit is possible to try

zijnto behet was te proberen geweestit had been possible to try

The statement that we are not dealing with an auxiliary verb here must be rather confusing as the construction clearly consists of 'te' and averb. The last example shows us thatzijn(in the pluperfect:was geweest)is not an auxiliary verb. Had it been an auxiliary verb forproberen,the past participle would haveturned into an infinitive.

'Te' after durven, hoeven, hebben, komenThese four verbs do not have much in common other than that they are followed by 'te'. The reason why they get their own page is that they could not be categorized anywhere else.durvento darehijdurftniet in het openbaartesprekenhe does not dare to speak in public

hebbento haveikhebvandaag veeltedoenI have got a lot to do today

hoevento need towijhoevenniettewachtenwe do not need to wait

komento come (to)hetkomttevervallenit (will) comes to expire

Durven is a regular verb, hoeven is astrong verbandhebbenandkomenare completely irregular.A few notes: The constructionhebben tealways meansto have to(and has nothing to do withto possess). It is used in combination with a quantity, e.g. "I have a lot to do", "We do not have much to clean", etc. The verbhoevencan only be used in anegating sentence(with 'not', 'never', 'nowhere', etc.). Komen tealways meansto be about toin the sense that something will happen.The perfect tenseBecause a past participle cannot serve as an auxiliary verb, we have to use infinitives instead. In the perfect tense, we dropte.Hijheeftniet in het openbaardurvenspreken.He has not dared to speak in public.

Wijhebbenniethoevenwachten.We did not need ('have not needed') to wait.

Hetis komenvervallen.It has come to expire.

The observant reader may have missedhebbenin the list. The reason why I did not give an example is because it would have been an ugly construction that we would never use: The present perfect ofhebbenisheb gehad. If we turn the past participle (gehad) into an infinitive, we would get "Ik heb hebben ..."

'Te' + infinitive: dat-verbs

Thete+ infinitive construction is a typical characteristic ofshort subclauses. In English, we have short subclauses too. Just look at "He claimed to be a prince", which is short for "He claimed that he was a prince". Where the first phrase consists of one single clause, the latter has two clauses: "He claimed" and "He was a prince".Dat-verbsThe auxiliary verbs below are actuallyindependent verbs, for the verbs that follow are part of a different clause, ashort subclauseto be more precise.The verbs can also be used in constructions as "I think that.." - hence the name of this category.beloven*to promiseHijbelooftvanaf nu op tijdte komen.He promises to be on time from now on.

bewerento claimHannekebeweerthette weten.Hanneke claims to know it

blijkento appearDe groenteboerblijktveelte weten.The grocer appears to know much.

denkento thinkPietdenkthette zullen doen.Piet thinks that he will do it.

hopento hopeLoeshoopterbijte zijn.Loes hopes to be there.

lijkento seemHiddelijkthet leukte vinden.Hidde seems to like it.

menento meanIkmeendehaarte horen.I thought I heard her.

schijnento seemDe burgemeesterschijnthetgoed te keuren.The mayor seems to approve of it.

wensen*to wishMijn broertjewenstekoningte zullen worden.(lit) My little brother wished to become king.

(*) beloven and wensen also appear in the list ofom-verbs.These verbs can also precede a normalsubordinating clausewhen they are followed (like in English) bydat(that):belovento promiseHijbelooftdathij vanaf nu op tijdkomt.He promised that he would be on time from now on.

bewerento claimHannekebeweertdatze hetweet.Hanneke claims that she knows it.

blijken*to appearHetblijkt datde groenteboer veelweet.It appears that the grocer knows a lot.

denkento thinkPietdenkt dathij hetzal doen.Piet thinks that he will do it

hopento hopeLoeshoopt datze erbijzal zijn.Loes hopes that she will be there.

lijken*to seemHetlijkteropdatHidde het leukvindt.It looks like (it) that Hidde likes it.

menento meanikmeende datik haarhoorde.I thought that I could hear her.

schijnen*to seemHetschijnt datde burgemeester hetgoedkeurt.It seems that the mayor approves of it

wensento wishMijn broertjewenste dathij koningzou worden.(lit) My little brother wished that he became king.

Note: Regardingblijken, lijken en schijnen:just like in English, when these verbs are followed bydat, the subject can only behet(it).Het blijkt dat...It appears that...

Het schijnt dat...It seems that...

Het lijkt erop dat...It looks like it that ...

You cannot say "she appears that...".Dat-verbs in the perfect tenseFor the perfect tense, we use a past participle. Normally, we replace a past participle by an infinitive, if it serves as an auxiliary verb. See alsoPast participle turning into an infinitive.Let us take the sentence "Hij belooft vanaf nu op tijd te komen", which means "He promises to be on time from now on." If we set the sentence in the pluperfect tense, we would expect to get "Hij heeft beloven vanaf nu op tijd te komen." After all, the auxiliary verbbelovenshould not be able to supportkomenin the form of a past participle (which would have beenbeloofd).However, in this case we do use a past participle. This not really an exception to the rule that a past participle cannot serve as an auxiliary verb': As adat-verb,belovendoes not really act as an auxiliary verb forkomensince they are located in two different clauses:Belovenin the main clause andkomenin the short subclause.Hijheeft beloofdvanaf nu op tijdte komen.He has promised to be on time from now on.

Hannekeheeft beweerdhette weten.Hanneke has claimed to know it.

Piethad gedachthette zullen doen.Piet had thought that he will do it.

'Te' + infinitive: om-verbsThe prepositionsom,door, na, alvorens, in plaats van, and zondercan mark the beginning of a short subclause. If they do, the subclause always contains a "te + infinitive" construction. You can read more about this undershort subclauses.Om'Om' means 'in order to' or 'for'. It receives special attention here because there are a few verbs where we can omit 'om'. Instead of "Ik probeeromte slapen" (I try to sleep), we can also say "Ik probeer te slapen" (again: I try to sleep). 'Proberen' now looks like an 'infinitive + te' verb but it really is a an om-construction in disguise.The disguised om-verbs are listed below. They all have something to do with a wish, desire, or command. Note that you can only omit 'om' when it is preceded by one of the verbs in the list below.aanmoedigento encourageZe werdenaangemoedigdomgezondertegaan leven.They were encouraged to live a healthier life.

bedoelento intendIkbedoeldeomiets heel anderstezeggen.I meant to say something completely different.

belovento promiseHijbelooftomvanaf nu op tijdtekomen.He promises to be on time from now on.

bevelento commandZebevalhunomnaar haar kantoortekomen.She ordered them to come to her office.

opdragento commandZedragenjeopomlangerteblijven.They tell (order) you to stay longer.

proberento tryIkprobeeromzonder wekker wakkerteworden.I try to wake up without an alarm-clock.

strevento strive, aimWestrevenernaaromalle zwerfkatten een huistegeven.We try (have the ambition) to give all straycats a home.

verlangento desireZeverlangdenernaaromterug naar huistegaan.They longed (for it) to go home.

verzoekento requestMag ik jullieverzoekenomjullie voeten van tafeltehalen?May I ask you to take your feet of the table?

vragen omto ask forZevroegenjeommeetekomen.They asked you to come along.

wensento wish, preferDe premierwenstomniettekomen.The prime minister prefers not to come.

Notes: Belovenandwensenare also'datverbs'.*Vragenis mentioned with the prepositionombecause there are several other combinations possible:vragen naarandvragen aando not mean the same asvragen om. See also thephrasal verbs list.Om-verbs in the perfect tenseBecause the verbs that follows after -often invisible-omare situated in a short subclause, the past participle in the main clause does not turn into an infinitive. Because dat-verbs are subject to the same principle, I refer todat-verbsin the perfect tense for more information.Zehadhunbevolenomnaar haar kantoorte komen.She had ordered them to come to her office.

Ikheb geprobeerdomzonder wekker wakkerte worden.I have tried to wake up without an alarm-clock.

Wehebbenernaar*gestreefdomalle zwerfkatten een huiste geven.We have tried (aimed) to give all straycats a home.

Zehebbenjulliegevraagdommeete komen.They have asked you to come along.

Note: Ernaaris apronominal adverb:naar hetturns intoernaar. So why do we useerhere? A preposition (in thise case,naar) needs to be followed by an object. Becausestreven naarrequires an object within the same clause, we use a provisionaler. The 'real' object is the entire subclause "(om) alle zwerfkatten een thuis te geven."

Auxiliary verbs and the bare infinitiveSome auxiliary verbs need to be followed by only an infinitive, notte+ infinitive. We see the same in English:We say "we can stay", not "we cantostay."The auxiliary verbs that do not require 'te' are themodal verbsand thetransitive verbs. We will discuss them on the next two pages.

Modal verbs and the bare infinitiveModal verbs indicate how an action is performed: compulsory, voluntary, permitted, etc. Technically, not all verbs below are modal verbs, but this is a linguistic issue that you should not be bothered with.blijvento stay, keephij blijft zich afvragenhe keeps wondering

gaanto gohij gaat een stukje lopenhe goes for a little walk

komento comehij komt vanavond etenhe comes for diner tonight

kunnento be ablezij kunnen niet zingenthey cannot sing

moetento have tozij moet haar huiswerk doenshe has to do her homework

mogento be allowedik mag niet zingenI am not allowed to sing

willento wantwij willen hier blijvenwe want to stay here

zullen'to' willjij zult lekker slapenyou will sleep well

Komenis also mentioned in the list of auxiliary verbs that are followed byte + infinitive. However, note the semantic difference: he verbkomenwithouttejust meansto comein a literal sense, whilekomen temeansto be about to(happen).

'Te' + infinitive after prepositionsI will simply repeat what I said on the previous page: The wordsdoor, na, alvorens, om, in plaats vanandzondercan mark the beginning of a short subclause. If they do, the subclause always contains a "te + infinitive" construction. You can read more about this undershort subclauses.The word 'om' is a special case and was discussed on the previous page. We will now look at alvorens, door, in plaats van, na and zonder.alvorensprior todoorbyin plaats vaninstead ofnaafterzonderwithout

Alvorens, door, in plaats van, and zonderThe construction is very simple: After the prepositions mentioned above follows 'te' + infinitive.Alvorenstebeginnen, moet men de stekker in het stopcontact steken.Prior to starting (on it), one has to put the plug in the socket.

Doorelke ochtend een half uurtjetelopen, zag hij er tien jaar jonger uit.By walking ten minutes every morning, he looked ten years younger.

In plaats van te helpen, maakten ze het hem juist moeilijker.Instead of helping (out), they just made it more difficult for him.

Ze staken de straat overzonder uit te kijken.They crossed the street without looking out.

NaA short subclause that begins withnaalways has aperfect tense. This means that we are dealing with a 'te + infinitive + past participle' construction. See alsopast participle.In other words, we do not use the construction 'after dining with our neighbours', but only 'after having dined with our neighbours'.De timmerman kwam thuisnadaarte hebben gewerkt.The carpenter came home after having worked there.

Naeen uurte hebben rondgelopen, gingen we..After having walked around for an hour, we went... (lit)

Transitive verbs and the bare infinitive

Transitive auxiliary verbs are about perceiving someone else (adirect object) doing something.Transitive auxiliary verbs are always followed by a direct object and an infinitive.The transitive auxiliary verbs are:horento hearIk hoor jou piano spelen.I can hear you playing the piano.

vindento findIk vind hem mooi zingen.I find him sing well (lit).

voelento feelIk voel de make-up zitten.I can feel the make up ('sit').

ziento seeHij zag haar over straat lopen.He saw her walking in the street.

The verb that follows after the auxiliary verb is in fact not part of the act of the subject, but it is the act of the direct object (jou, hem, de make-up,andhaar).

'Aan het' + infinitive

If we want to use the 'aan het' continuous tense, we use:zijn + aan het+ infinitive.hij is vrolijk aan het zingenhe is cheerfully singing

wij zijn vrolijk aan het pratenwe are cheerfully talking

For a more detailed explanation of this construction, see the'aan het' continuous.

Summarizing the auxiliary verbs

In general, the independent verb follows after the auxiliary verb(s).We can distinguish four main types of auxiliary verb constructions:Auxiliary verb + past participlehebbento havezijnto be

wordento becomerakento get

When the past participle itself serves as an auxiliary verb, the past participle turns into an infinitive.Auxiliary verb +te+ infinitive A list of "that - verbs"bewerento claimblijkento appear

denkento thinkhopento hope

lijkento seemmenento mean

schijnento seemwensento wish

hebbento havehoevento need

komento come (to)----

A list of "om - verbs"aanmoedigento encouragestrevento strive

bedoelento intend, meanverlangento long for

belovento promiseverzoekento request

bevelento commandvragen omto ask for

opdragento commandwensento wish

proberento try----

The 'te' continuouszittento sitliggento lie

lopento walkstaanto stand

hangento hang----

All verbs that followalvorens, door, in plaats van, na,andzonder. Theverbableblijven teto remain -ablezijn teto be -able

vallento be -able----

Durven, hoeven, hebben, and komendurvento darehoevento have to

hebben teto have tokomento 'will happen'

Auxiliary verb + bare infinitive Modal verbsblijvento stay, keepgaanto go

komento comekunnento be able

moetento have tomogento be allowed

willento wantzullen'to' will

Transitive auxiliary verbshorento hearvindento find

voelento feelziento see

Auxiliary verb +aan het+ infinitiveThis construction is exclusively reserved for the'aan het' continuous.The auxiliary verb is alwayszijn(to be).