Dutch Prepositions of Time: om, op, in, voor, na, tijdens | A1 Dutch, Lesson 20

Welcome to lesson twenty of the A1 Dutch Grammar Course. In the previous lesson you learned place prepositions. In this lesson you are going to learn time prepositions — the words that tell you when something happens. The three most important Dutch time prepositions are om, op, and in. Each one is used for a specific type of time expression: om for clock time, op for days and dates, and in for months and years. Then you will learn useful extra time words: voor, na, tijdens, over, tot, van...tot, and sinds. By the end of this lesson you will be able to say when things happen at every level of time: the exact hour, the day, the month, and the year.

Om · Op · In — drie voorzetsels, drie regels

The three core time prepositions in Dutch are om, op, and in. Om is used for clock time — the exact hour or minute. De les begint om negen uur — the lesson starts at nine o'clock. Om veertien uur dertig — at half past two. Op is used for days of the week and specific dates. De vergadering is op donderdag — the meeting is on Thursday. Op vijf mei — on the fifth of May. In is used for months, years, and seasons. Zij zijn in juni getrouwd — they got married in June. In tweeduizendvierentwintig — in 2024. In de zomer — in the summer. The rule is straightforward: for a month or year, use in. For a day or date, use op. For a clock time, use om.

Voor · Na · Tijdens

Three more very useful time prepositions: voor, na, and tijdens. Voor means before — voor de les, before the lesson; voor het eten, before dinner; voor de vergadering, before the meeting. Na means after — na het werk, after work; na het eten, after dinner. Tijdens means during — tijdens de vergadering, during the meeting; tijdens de vakantie, during the holiday. These three are followed by a noun or noun phrase. Ik drink koffie voor de les — I drink coffee before the lesson. We gaan na het eten wandelen — we go for a walk after dinner. Je mag niet bellen tijdens de les — you may not phone during the lesson. These three are sequencing words — they tell you whether something happens before, at the same time as, or after something else.

Duur en bereik — over · tot · van...tot · sinds

Four more time prepositions for expressing duration and range. Over means in — a period of time from now. Hij komt over een halfuur — he is coming in half an hour. Over twee maanden — in two months' time. Tot means until — ik werk tot zeventien uur, I work until five o'clock. Tot vrijdag — until Friday. Van...tot is used for a range — from one point to another. Ik werk van maandag tot vrijdag — I work from Monday to Friday. And sinds means since — from a point in the past to now. Zij woont sinds tweeduizendtwintig in Amsterdam — she has been living in Amsterdam since 2020. Note that Dutch uses the present tense with sinds — woont, not heeft gewoond. This is different from English, which uses the perfect tense: has been living. If you want to express a duration without a starting point, use al: zij woont al twee jaar in Amsterdam. Sinds is always about a situation that started in the past and is still ongoing.

Key Takeaways

Here is what you learned in this lesson. The three core time prepositions are om, op, and in. Om is used for clock time, op for days and dates, in for months, years, and seasons. Voor means before, na means after, and tijdens means during. For expressing time range and duration: over means in X time from now, tot means until, van...tot means from...until, and sinds means since a point in the past. You have now completed both the place prepositions lesson and the time prepositions lesson. In lesson twenty-one you will learn Dutch diminutives — the -je suffix that makes nouns smaller and often softer in meaning.

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Veel succes en tot de volgende les! (Good luck and see you in the next lesson!)