Grammar

FUTURE TENSE

In Dutch, the future tense is expressed by using the construction gaan (to go) + infinitive for actions which will take place in the near (or immediate) future, and zullen (to shall, will) + infinitive for actions which will take place in the not so near future or when the time of the future action is unknown. In such constructions, the verbs gaan and zullen are used in the simple present tense. The conjugations for the two irregular verbs are shown below.

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gaan (to go) | zullen (shall, will) |

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Dutch | | English |

Ik ga. | | I am going. |

Jij/U gaat. | | You are going. |

Hij/Zij/Het gaat. | | He/She/It is going. |

Wij gaan. | | We are going. |

Jullie gaan. | | You are going. |

Zij gaan. | | They are going. |

| Dutch | | English |

Ik zal. | | I will. |

Jij/U zult/zal. | | You will |

Hij/Zij/Het zal. | | He/She/It will. |

Wij zullen. | | We will. |

Jullie zullen. | | You will. |

Zij zullen. | | They will. |

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In the second person singular of the verb zullen, there are two alternatives which might be used. There is no specific rule as to which form should be used. It largely depends on personal preference. Some examples of the future tense:

Future tense with 'gaan':  Ik ga koken. = I am going to cook.  Hij gaat een beetje lezen. = He is going to read a littlebit.  Wij gaan studeren. = We are going to study.  Jullie gaan sluiten. = You are going to close.  We gaan morgen vroeg vertrekken. = We are going to leave early tomorrow. |

Future tense with 'zullen':  Ik zal je opbellen = I will call you.  Hij zal deze ervaring niet vergeten. = He will not forget this experience.  Wij zullen voor het examen goed studeren. = We will study well for the exam.  De volgende keer zal ik beter oppassen. = Next time I will take more care. |

Vocabulary:

koken | = | to cook |

een beetje | = | a little bit |

lezen | = | to read |

studeren | = | to study |

sluiten | = | to close |

morgen | = |...