Inversion in Dutch: Word Order Beyond the Subject-First Sentence — A1 Dutch Grammar Course, Lesson 7 | My Dutch Journal

Inversion in Dutch: Word Order Beyond the Subject-First Sentence | A1 Dutch, Lesson 7

July 4, 2026

Chef Smakelijk — the My Dutch Journal mascot

Welcome to lesson seven of the A1 Dutch Grammar Course. In lesson six, you learned that in a basic statement, the verb goes at position two — directly after the subject. Today you are going to learn what happens when the sentence does not start with the subject. This is called inversie — inversion. And here is the good news: in these statements, the rule you already know still applies. The conjugated verb stays at position two. What changes is that the subject moves. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to start a Dutch sentence with a time expression or a place expression — and produce the correct word order.

Je kent de regel al.

You already know the most important rule for statements. The conjugated verb is at position two. What changes in this lesson is what goes at position one. In lesson six, the subject started the sentence — ik werk morgen thuis. In this lesson, we are going to put something else at position one. In this case, a time expression: morgen. When morgen moves to position one, the verb werk still stays at position two. The subject ik comes after the verb. Morgen werk ik thuis. That is the basic idea of inversie.

Positie 1 — Subject	Positie 2 — Werkwoord	Positie 3 — Rest
Ik	werk	morgen thuis.

Positie 1 — Tijd	Positie 2 — Werkwoord	Positie 3 — Subject + rest
Morgen	werk	ik thuis.

Tijdsbepaling op positie 1

The most common use of inversie at this level is with time expressions. When you start a sentence with a time word — morgen, vandaag, deze week, elke dag, nu — the verb still comes at position two, and the subject moves right after it. Morgen werk ik thuis — morgen is first, werk is second, ik comes third. Vandaag heeft mijn zus een afspraak — vandaag is first, heeft is second, mijn zus comes third. Elke dag leren wij nieuwe woorden — elke dag is first, leren is second, wij comes third. Deze week is hij ziek — deze week is first, is is second, hij comes third. Nu drink ik een kopje koffie — nu is first, drink is second, ik comes third. The pattern is the same every time: time expression, then verb, then subject.

Positie 1 — tijd	Positie 2 — werkwoord	Positie 3 — subject + rest
Morgen	werk	ik thuis.
Vandaag	heeft	mijn zus een afspraak.
Elke dag	leren	wij nieuwe woorden.
Deze week	is	hij ziek.
Nu	drink	ik een kopje koffie.

Plaatsbepaling op positie 1

Place expressions can also open a sentence, especially when the place is important or when you want to contrast locations. The pattern is identical. Mijn broer woont in Amsterdam — standard order. In Amsterdam woont mijn broer — the place comes first, the verb follows, and the subject moves after the verb. Wij werken op kantoor — standard order. Op kantoor werken wij — place first, verb second, subject third. De studenten zitten in de klas — In de klas zitten de studenten. Same pattern. Zij werkt thuis — Thuis werkt ze. The rule is unchanged: when a place expression opens the statement, the verb is at position two, and the subject comes right after it.

Het werkwoord staat op positie 2.

Here is the complete picture for statements. Whether you are writing a sentence from lesson six or a sentence with inversie from lesson seven, position two belongs to the conjugated verb. In lesson six, the subject is at position one, the verb follows at position two. In lesson seven, something else — a time expression or a place expression — is at position one, the verb is still at position two, and the subject moves after the verb. Ik werk morgen thuis. Morgen werk ik thuis. Mijn zus woont in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam woont mijn zus. One extra reminder: when the subject is jij or je and it comes after the verb, the t-drop still applies. So you say Vandaag werk jij thuis, not Vandaag werkt jij thuis.

Tijdsbepalingen op positie 1

Here is a set of time expressions you will use often at this level — all of them can start a sentence. When they are in position one, the sentence uses inversie. Day and moment words: vandaag, morgen, nu, dan. Frequency words: elke dag, soms, vaak, nooit. Planning and time expressions: volgende week, 's ochtends, in de winter, om acht uur. When any of these comes first in the sentence, the verb follows immediately, and the subject comes after. Elke dag eet hij brood voor het ontbijt. Soms werkt mijn collega thuis. Volgende week hebben wij een vergadering. The structure is the same.

Wat heb je geleerd?

Here is what we covered in this lesson. In Dutch statements, the conjugated verb is at position two — that is the rule that connects lesson six and lesson seven. When a time expression or a place expression comes first in the sentence, the verb follows immediately at position two, and the subject moves after the verb. Morgen werk ik thuis. Elke dag leren wij nieuwe woorden. In Amsterdam woont mijn broer. In the next lesson, you will look at questions, where the verb also plays a key role.

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.