Dutch Word Order Basics: The Verb Is Always Second — A1 Dutch Grammar Course, Lesson 6 | My Dutch Journal

Dutch Word Order Basics: The Verb Is Always Second | A1 Dutch, Lesson 6

July 4, 2026

Chef Smakelijk — the My Dutch Journal mascot

Welcome to lesson six of the A1 Dutch Grammar Course. In this lesson, we are going to learn about word order in Dutch — zinsvolgorde. In lessons three, four, and five, you learned zijn, hebben, and regular verbs. You have been producing Dutch sentences already. Now it is time to understand exactly where the verb goes in a basic Dutch statement. The answer is simple and consistent: in a normal statement, the verb goes in the second position. That rule is the foundation of this lesson. By the end, you will know the basic structure of the hoofdzin — the main clause — and you will be able to place the conjugated verb in the right position.

Wat is een hoofdzin?

The sentence type you will use most at this level is the hoofdzin — the main clause. A hoofdzin is a main clause: a sentence that can stand on its own. In Dutch, word order is very important — the position of the verb tells you how the sentence works. For now, focus on this basic statement pattern: subject first, verb second, and the rest after the verb.

Positie 1 · Positie 2 · Positie 3

Here is the structure of the basic hoofdzin statement. Three positions. Position one is the subject — wie of wat — who or what the sentence is about. Position two is the conjugated verb. Position three is the rest of this basic sentence — for example time, object, or place. Ik werk vandaag — ik is position one, werk is position two, vandaag is position three. Mijn zus woont in een klein appartement — my sister is position one, woont is position two, the location is position three. Wij leren elke dag nieuwe woorden — wij is position one, leren is position two, and everything else is position three. Zij spreekt drie talen — zij at position one, spreekt at position two, and three languages at position three. De kinderen spelen buiten — the children at position one, spelen at position two, buiten at position three.

Positie 1 — wie of wat	Positie 2 — werkwoord	Positie 3 — rest (wanneer, wat, waar)
Ik	werk	vandaag.
Mijn zus	woont	in een klein appartement.
Wij	leren	elke dag nieuwe woorden.
Zij	spreekt	drie talen.
De kinderen	spelen	buiten.

Wat staat op positie 3?

Let us look at position three more closely. In this basic statement pattern, position three holds the information that comes after the verb, such as time, object, and place. That includes time expressions, objects, and place expressions — or any combination of them. Ik werk morgen — morgen is the time expression, at position three. Mijn broer heeft een nieuwe baan — een nieuwe baan is the object, at position three. Zij woont in Rotterdam — in Rotterdam is the place, at position three. And position three can hold more than one element at the same time. Hij koopt morgen een fiets in de stad — time, then object, then place — all at position three. The subject stays at position one. The verb stays at position two. Everything else goes to position three.

In een basis-hoofdzin staat het werkwoord op positie 2.

Here is the golden rule for a normal statement. The verb goes at position two — directly after the subject. Nothing comes between the subject and the verb. This is where many learners make mistakes, because in English, an adverb can come between the subject and the verb. In Dutch, this is not possible. Ik altijd werk thuis — wrong. Ik werk altijd thuis — correct. The adverb altijd goes after the verb. Hij in Rotterdam woont — wrong. Hij woont in Rotterdam — correct. The location waits until after the verb. Wij elke dag Nederlands leren — wrong. Wij leren elke dag Nederlands — correct. Whatever you want to say after the subject — time, objects, adverbs, place — all of it must wait until after the verb. The subject is position one. The verb is position two. Everything else follows.

Alle werkwoorden volgen dezelfde regel.

The word order rule applies to all the verb types students have learned so far. Zijn, hebben, and regular verbs follow the same basic statement pattern. In lessons three, four, and five, you used these verbs in sentences — you were already following this rule. Now you can see it clearly. Ik ben student — ben at position two. Jij hebt een nieuwe collega — hebt at position two. Mijn moeder kookt elke avond — kookt at position two. The conjugated form of the verb changes depending on the pronoun — but in this statement pattern, the verb position stays the same.

Positie 2 blijft belangrijk — ook in de volgende les.

Before we reach the key takeaways, here is a preview of where this rule leads. In the basic hoofdzin pattern you have learned today, the subject comes first. But in Dutch, you can also start a statement with a time expression or a place expression. When you do that, the verb still stays at position two. Ik werk vandaag in Rotterdam — subject at position one, verb at position two. Vandaag werk ik in Rotterdam — the time expression is now at position one, the verb is still at position two, and the subject moves to position three. This is called inversie, and it is the topic of lesson seven. For now, the most important thing to carry with you is this: in a Dutch statement, position two belongs to the conjugated verb.

Wat heb je geleerd?

Here is what we covered in this lesson. The hoofdzin is the standard Dutch sentence type, and this lesson focused on the basic statement pattern. Position one is the subject — wie of wat. Position two is the conjugated verb. Position three is the rest — time, objects, and place. In this pattern, the verb is at position two, directly after the subject. Nothing comes between them. In lesson seven, you will learn inversie — what happens when a sentence starts with something other than the subject. The verb will still be at position two.

Practice What You Learned

Reading about grammar is step one — using it is what makes it stick. In My Dutch Journal Academy you can watch the full video of this lesson, do interactive exercises that check your answers instantly, and practise all the vocabulary from the A1 course.