Vocabulary
hiervoor before this | ||||
directeur director | ||||
als as, if | ||||
nieuw new | ||||
iedereen everyone, everybody | ||||
collega colleague | ||||
kind child | ||||
verschillend different, various | ||||
studeren to study | ||||
ook also |
Lesson Notes
Grammar
The Focus of this Lesson is Using the Present Perfect tense for Self-Introductions
Ik heb in Leiden gestudeerd. Nederlands en Spaans
"I have studied in Leiden; Dutch and Spanish."
The present perfect tense is used to explain that something has happened in the past, but it does not specify at what time exactly.
In Dutch the present perfect is called the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd and is used in exactly the same way as in English.
Formation
The "present perfect" (voltooid tegenwoordige tijd) is made with a subject [noun, pronoun, or proper name] + the modal verb hebben (heb) + the main verb (past participle).
For example, when used with a proper name:
- Mevrouw van Dale heeft gestudeerd.
"Mrs van Dale has studied."
And with a pronoun:
- Ik heb in Leiden gestudeerd.
"I have studied in Leiden."
In Leiden is extra information about the place, and this will not change in other tenses.
In this case we don't know which years she spent studying as the present perfect doesn't specify an exact time.
The present perfect tense can also be used to say that something started in the past, but is still going on.
For example:
- Ik woon sinds 2011 in Singapore.
"I have lived in Singapore since 2011," with the implication that I am still living there.
In the simple past (in Dutch: onvoltooid verleden tijd), you can be more precise. For example, you would use it to say In 1999 woonde ik in Singapore("In 1999 I lived in Singapore").
So in the dialogue, when the new teacher is introducing herself and telling a bit about her past, she uses the present perfect.
Dialogue lines in which you will find the present perfect tense:
Directeur: Mevrouw van Dale, waar heeft u gestudeerd? |
Director: Mrs van Dale, where have you studied? |
Mevrouw van Dale: Ik heb in Leiden gestudeerd. Nederlands en Spaans. |
Mrs van Dale: I've studied in Leiden; Dutch and Spanish. |
Directeur: Oh! Dus u heeft ook Spaans geleerd? |
Director: Ah! So you've learned Spanish as well? |
Mevrouw van Dale: Ja, die taal heb ik ook geleerd. Ik heb als kind ook in Spanje gewoond. |
Mrs van Dale: Yes, I've studied that language as well. As a child I also lived in Spain. |
Directeur: En waar heeft u hiervoor gewerkt? |
Director: And where have you worked before? |
Mevrouw van Dale: Ik heb op verschillende scholen in Rotterdam lesgegeven. |
Mrs van Dale: I've taught at several schools in Rotterdam. |
Compare the following sentences:
Present perfect: Ik heb in China gereisd. ("I have travelled in China.")
Simple past: In 1987 reisde ik in China.("In 1987 I travelled in China.")
Present perfect: Ik heb altijd veel aan sport gedaan.'("I have always done a lot of sports.")
Simple past: Op school deed ik veel aan sport.("When I was at school I used to do a lot of sports.")
So you could say that the new teacher uses the present perfect to give some information about her former career, but without being too specific.
Examples from the dialogue:
- En waar hebt u hiervoor gewerkt?
"And where have you worked before?" - Ik heb op verschillende scholen in Rotterdam lesgegeven.
"I've taught at several schools in Rotterdam."
Sample Sentences
- Ik heb altijd in Leiden gestudeerd, maar nooit in andere steden.
"I've always studied in Leiden, but never in other cities." - En waar hebt u hiervoor gewerkt? Ook in het onderwijs?
"And where did you work before? Also in education?" - Ik heb als kind ook in Spanje gewoond, maar daarna alleen maar in Nederland.
"As a child I'd lived in Spain, but after that only in the Netherlands."
Cultural Insights
Formal versus Informal Relationships and Language
It is always difficult to make the right choice between formal and informal language. In Holland this will depend on a lot of factors. The type of relationship between two people matters of course, but age, background and education also have an influence on how you speak.
Holland used to be much more formal than it is now, but since the sixties things have become more relaxed. It is now perfectly acceptable to start a conversation using the informal je instead of the formal u (both meaning "you"), when talking to somebody of the same age and status. Of course when addressing a prime minister, CEO or somebody else with a high position, you use u.
When unsure, always start with formal language or ask mag ik 'je' zeggen?, meaning "May I use je?" or, in practice, "Can we be on a first-name basis?"
Lesson Transcript
INTRODUCTION | |
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome to DutchPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 1 - Meeting a New Dutch Coworker. Eric here. | |
Jacob: Hallo. I'm Jacob. | |
Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to use the present perfect tense. The conversation takes place in the teachers’ room of a school. | |
Jacob: It's between the school director and the new teacher. Other staff are listening. | |
Eric: The speakers have just met and have a professional relationship, so they’ll be using formal Dutch. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. | |
Lesson conversation |
|
---|---|
Directeur: Goedemorgen iedereen. We hebben een nieuwe collega. Dit is mevrouw van Dale. | |
Mevrouw van Dale: Goedemorgen, leuk u te ontmoeten. | |
Directeur: Mevrouw van Dale, waar hebt u gestudeerd? | |
Mevrouw van Dale: Ik heb in Leiden gestudeerd. Nederlands en Spaans. | |
Directeur: Oh! Dus u hebt ook Spaans geleerd? | |
Mevrouw van Dale: Ja, die taal heb ik ook geleerd. Ik heb als kind ook in Spanje gewoond. | |
Directeur: En waar hebt u hiervoor gewerkt? | |
Mevrouw van Dale: Ik heb op verschillende scholen in Rotterdam lesgegeven. | |
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. | |
Director: Good morning, everybody. We have a new colleague. This is Mrs. van Dale. | |
Mrs van Dale: Good morning, nice to meet you. | |
Director: Mrs van Dale, where have you studied? | |
Mrs van Dale: I’ve studied in Leiden; Dutch and Spanish. | |
Director: Ah! So you’ve learned Spanish as well? | |
Mrs van Dale: Yes, I’ve studied that language as well. As a child I also lived in Spain. | |
Director: And where have you worked before? | |
Mrs van Dale: I’ve taught at several schools in Rotterdam. | |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER | |
Eric: Jacob, how do you decide whether to use formal or informal language in Dutch? | |
Jacob: In Holland, it depends on a lot of factors. The type of relationship you have with the person you’re speaking to matters of course, but age, background and education also have an influence on how you speak. | |
Eric: I’ve heard that Holland used to be much more formal than it is now. Is that true? | |
Jacob: It is. Since the 1960s, things have been changing. It’s now perfectly acceptable to start a conversation using the informal je instead of the formal u to mean “you” when you’re talking to somebody of the same age and status. | |
Eric: But of course if you’re addressing a prime minister, CEO, or someone else in a high position you should use formal language. | |
Jacob: That’s right. So listeners, my tip is to use formal language when you aren’t sure which to choose. | |
Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. | |
VOCAB LIST | |
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. | |
Jacob: directeur [natural native speed] | |
Eric: director | |
Jacob: directeur[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: directeur [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: iedereen [natural native speed] | |
Eric: everyone, everybody | |
Jacob: iedereen[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: iedereen [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: nieuw [natural native speed] | |
Eric: new | |
Jacob: nieuw[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: nieuw [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: collega [natural native speed] | |
Eric: colleague | |
Jacob: collega[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: collega [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: studeren [natural native speed] | |
Eric: to study | |
Jacob: studeren[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: studeren [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: als [natural native speed] | |
Eric: as, if | |
Jacob: als[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: als [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: kind [natural native speed] | |
Eric: child | |
Jacob: kind[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: kind [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: hiervoor [natural native speed] | |
Eric: before this | |
Jacob: hiervoor[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: hiervoor [natural native speed] | |
Eric: Next we have.. | |
Jacob: verschillend [natural native speed] | |
Eric: different, various | |
Jacob: verschillend[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: verschillend [natural native speed] | |
Eric: And last.. | |
Jacob: ook [natural native speed] | |
Eric: also | |
Jacob: ook[slowly - broken down by syllable] | |
Jacob: ook [natural native speed] | |
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES | |
Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. | |
Jacob: als kind | |
Eric: which means “as a child.” | |
Jacob: The Dutch als usually means “if,” but in our phrase it means “when.” So als kind literally means “when I was a child.” | |
Eric: In English the difference between “if” and “when” is fairly obvious, but in Dutch there can be some confusion. | |
Jacob: Right. For example, als het regent can mean both “if it rains” and “when it rains.” Basically, “if” in Dutch is als and “when” is wanneer. So “when it rains” should be wanneer het regent but actually most people will say als het regent. | |
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? | |
Jacob: Sure. For example, you can say.. Als kind was ik altijd moeiljk. | |
Eric: ..which means “As a child I was always difficult.” Okay, what's the next phrase? | |
Jacob: We hebben een nieuwe collega. | |
Eric: “We have a new colleague.” Jacob, let’s break down this phrase to see the meaning of each word. | |
Jacob: Sure. We hebben means “We have” and een nieuwe collega is “a new colleague.” | |
Eric: You can use this sentence to start the introduction of a new colleague. | |
Jacob: A more formal way to say it would be “Please allow me to introduce...,” or in Dutch, Staat u mij toe .. voor te stellen. This is a very formal sentence though. | |
Eric: So you wouldn’t use it for a casual introduction. Can you give us another example of a casual introduction? | |
Jacob: Sure. For example, you can say.. We hebben een nieuwe collega. Laten we een borrel drinken. | |
Eric: “We have a new colleague. Let's have a drink.” Okay, now onto the lesson focus. | |
Lesson focus |
|
Eric: In this lesson you’ll learn how to use the present perfect tense. In Dutch, the present perfect tense is used to explain that something has happened in the past, but it does not specify at what time exactly. | |
Jacob: In Dutch, the present perfect tense is called the voltooid tegenwoordige tijd. | |
Eric: The formation of this tense is simple. You have the subject plus the modal verb… | |
Jacob: hebben. | |
Eric: It’s exactly the same as in English, just the pronoun plus the verb “have,” as in “Jacob has,” which becomes something like “Jacob has studied” when you add the past tense verb. So if I want to say “Jacob has studied,” what would that be in Dutch? | |
Jacob: Jacob heeft gestudeerd, | |
Eric: which means “Jacob has studied.” | |
Jacob: In the same order as in English, we have Jacob, the subject, heeft, the verb for “to have,” and gestudeerd meaning “studied.” All together again, Jacob heeft gestudeerd. | |
Eric: “Jacob has studied.” What about a sentence with the first person singular, as in “I have studied?” | |
Jacob: In that case you can start with Ik heb, which means “I have.” | |
Eric: Using it, how can we say.. “I have studied in Leiden” ? | |
Jacob: Ik heb in Leiden gestudeerd. Once again - Ik heb in Leiden gestudeerd. | |
Eric: As you know, the present perfect tense can also be used to say that something started in the past, and is still going on. For example… | |
Jacob: Ik woon sinds 2011 in Singapore. | |
Eric: which means “I have lived in Singapore since 2011.” It means that I am still living there. The simple past tense is more precise. To see the differences clearly, let’s compare two sentences. First we have..… | |
Jacob: Ik heb in China gereisd. | |
Eric: which means “I have travelled in China,” and next.. | |
Jacob: In 1987 reisde ik in China. | |
Eric: which means “In 1987 I travelled in China.” | |
Jacob: Ik heb in China gereisd means I’ve been travelling in China from the past until now. In 1987 reisde ik in China simply means I travelled in China in 1987. | |
Eric: All right. In our dialogue the new teacher uses the present perfect when she is introducing herself and talking a bit about her past. | |
Jacob: Right. For example, she said Ja, die taal heb ik ook geleerd. | |
Eric: “I have studied that language as well.” | |
Jacob: In Dutch, you can use the present perfect tense when you don’t want to give too much specific information. | |
Outro |
|
Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! | |
Jacob: Tot ziens! |
25 Comments
HideWhere were you when you started learning Dutch?
Hoi Sara,
So sorry about that! We are continuously working on improving our site and materials, and our students' opinion is of highly value. I'll forward your feedback to our team for consideration!
Feel free to reach out to us if you have any further feedback or questions! Thank you!
Met vriendelijke groet,
Levente
Team DutchPod101.com
Hi,
This was my first lesson from DutchPod101.
It's a really good lesson, but I found it a bit hard to follow as the Audio Lesson doesn't match the order of the Lesson notes. When downloading the Lesson Notes into a PDF (which is really good material btw), I noticed that it's AGAIN not matching neither the Audio Lesson nor the Lesson Notes displayed on the website. It also would be handy if we could add the new words from the examples in the Notes to our Vocabulary, as there were quite a few new ones(more than in the Dialogue).
All in all, really enjoyed it, looks like after a lot of searching I have found a a good Online Dutch course with good content.
Thanks,
Sara
Hoi Alicia,
Thank you for your positive feedback. 😎
Regarding the Voice Recorder tool, we have great news. Well aware of the end-of-life of Flash this year, our technical team has been actively working on coming up with a refined solution for our voice recorder tool. And here is the great news: from now on, the new voice recorder tool is available and works without having to install Flash on your device/browser. It can be used by clicking on the microphone icon next to any dialogue entry or vocabulary word on the desktop version of our site. However please note that these buttons are not yet available on phones.
Hope you will like the new voice recorder tool!
Met vriendelijke groet,
Levente
Team DutchPod101.com
The lesson is understandable, I enjoyed it. The voice recorder if not function, or I did not know how to operate it.Thank you.
Hello Nash,
Thank you for your question.
Our team is working on improving the comment section.
At the moment, unfortunately, there's no way to track the answers.
What I can recommend is that you save the lesson where you wrote a question into your Favorite lessons by clicking the heart icon in the player.
We'll post again when updates were made.
Sincerely,
Lena
Team DutchPod101.com
If i ask a question, how do i know if somebody has replied to my question? sometimes i have so many questions but i feel like you guys should have a mailbox that alert us when we get a new message or response so we can click the message and it will take us to the actual reply. When you ask a question and move on from that lesson, sometimes is hard to remember which class you wrote the message and you will never find the answer, so therefore the purpose of asking a question is meaningless. Other than that, everything is good!
Hoi Brynna,
Thank you for commenting 😎
It should be " Ik heb sinds 2011 in Singapore gewoond" meaning " I have lived in Singapore since 2011". The speaker wants to indicate that he is still living there so we can not use the form "gewoond". The sentence therefor will be " Ik woon sinds 2011 in Singapore". It's a bit confusing because in Dutch there are no strict rules for the Present Perfect and the Past Tense so they are mixed up many times.
Jacob,
Team DutchPod101.com
I'm confused by this example
Ik woon sinds 2011 in Singapore.
For Present Perfect, shouldn't it be Ik heb gewonen sinds 2011 in Singapore?
Hoi Cecilia,
Dankjewel voor je vraag ?
Well actually both are okay "u hebt' or "u heeft". I think it's just more common
to say "u heeft" than "u hebt". It of course depends on the whole sentence but
in this case of the verb "studeren" I would go for "heeft".
Jacob,
Team DutchPod101.com
Goedemiddag,
Waarom zegt de dialoog "waar heeft u gestudeerd?", "Dus u heeft ook Spaans geleerd", enzovoort... in plaats van "waar hebt u gestudeerd"?
Ik dacht dat "u" gaat met "hebt"
Groetjes
Cecilia