The Dutch Present Participle: lopend, zingend, spelend | B1 Dutch, Lesson 14

Welcome to B1 Lesson fourteen. In this lesson, you learn about het tegenwoordig deelwoord — the present participle. You form it by adding -d to the infinitive of any verb. "Rennen becomes rennend. Huilen becomes huilend. Trillen becomes trillend. You use the present participle in two main ways. First: to describe what you are doing at the same time as something else. Hij kwam rennend bij de trein aan. He arrived at the train running — he was doing two things at once. Second: as an adjective before a noun. Een huilend meisje. A crying girl. By the end of this lesson, you will know how to form it, how to use it as a simultaneous action, and how to use it as an adjective — including the rule about when to add -e" and when not to.

Formation — infinitive + d

The formation is simple: take the infinitive and add -d. For regular B1 use, this works for every verb. "Rennen becomes rennend. Huilen becomes huilend. Trillen becomes trillend. Werken becomes werkend. Fietsen becomes fietsend. Zingen becomes zingend. The infinitive stays exactly as it is — you just add a -d at the end. Lachen becomes lachend. Wachten becomes wachtend. Glimlachen becomes glimlachend." If you know the infinitive, you can form the present participle.

Use 1 — two things at the same time

The first use of the present participle is to describe two actions happening at the same time. The subject is doing the main action AND the secondary action simultaneously. "Hij kwam rennend bij de trein aan. He arrived at the train running — arriving is the main action, running is the secondary one. Both happened at the same time. Zij keek huilend naar de film. She watched the film crying. Hij zat werkend achter zijn computer. He sat behind his computer working. For word order: the present participle usually follows the finite verb. But it can also go at the very start of the sentence — and when it does, inversion follows. Rennend kwam hij aan. Running, he arrived. Now, a crucial warning. This is NOT the same as the English present progressive — I am running. Do not translate I am running as Ik ben rennend. That is wrong. In Dutch, ongoing actions use the zijn aan het construction: Ik ben aan het rennen." In this simultaneous-action use, the present participle describes a secondary action, not the main ongoing action.

Use 2 — as adjective: extra -e or not?

The second use is as an adjective — placed before a noun to describe it. Once placed before a noun, the present participle behaves exactly like a regular Dutch adjective. It follows the same inflection rule you already know. In most cases, you add -e. But there is one exception: when the noun is an indefinite het-word — a het-noun with the article "een — you do NOT add -e. Let us see the four cases. Wat een verrassende speech! — de speech, indefinite een — so we add -e: verrassende. Daar zit een huilend meisje. — het meisje, indefinite een — NO -e: huilend. De fietsende man reed weg. — de man, definite de — add -e: fietsende. Het huilende meisje zuchtte. — het meisje but with the definite article het — add -e: huilende. So the only case with no -e is: indefinite het-word. Every other case gets -e".

Adjective examples — the rule in practice

Let us practise the rule with six examples. "Met trillende handen deed zij de deur open. De handen — a de-word — add -e: trillende. Kijk uit voor die fietsende man! De man, with the definite demonstrative die — add -e: fietsende. De auto rijdt weg met piepende banden. De banden — add -e: piepende. Hij was vroeger een onopvallend jongetje. Het jongetje — indefinite een — no -e: onopvallend. Dat was een verrassend antwoord. Het antwoord — indefinite een — no -e: verrassend. Ze heeft een slapende baby in haar armen. De baby — add -e: slapende. The decision process is always the same. First: is the noun a de-word or a het-word? Second: is the article definite or indefinite? If it is an indefinite het-word — no -e. Everything else — add -e".

Independent use — without a noun

The present participle can also stand alone — without a noun directly following it. In two situations. First, it can replace a noun that was mentioned in the previous sentence. "Er waren veel saaie speeches, maar ook een paar verrassende. The verrassende stands in for verrassende speeches — the noun was already said, so it is left out. The adjective form still follows the same rule: since speeches are de-words, you add -e. Second, it can refer to a person without naming them. De wachtende wordt zo geholpen. The person waiting will be helped shortly. Er is nog één wachtende voor u. There is one more person waiting. Here the singular form ends in -e. Now, the three forms to know for person reference. Singular, standing alone: -e. Er is één wachtende voor u. One person waiting. Plural, standing alone: add -n. Er zijn vijf wachtenden voor u. Five people waiting. But when the present participle comes before a noun as an adjective, the -n disappears: vijf wachtende studenten — five waiting students. This three-way distinction — singular -e, plural standalone -en, before a noun no -n" — is the full pattern for person reference.

Key Takeaways

Four things to hold onto. First: formation. Infinitive plus -d. For regular B1 use, this applies to every verb. Second: the simultaneous action use. The subject is doing two things at the same time. The present participle describes the secondary one. Word order: after the finite verb, or at the start of the sentence with inversion. And this is NOT the English I am doing construction — that is "zijn aan het in Dutch. Third: the adjective use. Add -e in most cases. The only exception is the indefinite het-word — when a het-noun has the article een, you leave out the -e. Fourth: the independent use. When the present participle stands alone referring to people, the singular form ends in -e and the plural ends in -en. But when it comes before a noun as an adjective — no -n".

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 B1 course.

Follow us on Instagram for bite-sized Dutch grammar every week.

Continue the course

← Previous lesson: Hoeven vs Moeten: Not Having To in Dutch

Next lesson: The Dutch Past Participle as Adjective: gekookt vs kokend →

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