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Perfectum versus imperfectum in Dutch

In Dutch you have different ways to talk about the past. You can use perfectum or the imperfectum. Let's see what they look like.

• Het Perfectum (Perfect tense): Ik heb op dinsdag gewerkt.
• Het imperfectum (imperfect tense): Ik werkte op dinsdag.

Now the big question is: when do you use which? Let's start with some good news:

There are differences between the perfectum and the imperfectum, but in practice you can often use both. Dutch is very flexible in this, much more flexible than many other languages.

The use of the imperfect instead of the perfect or vice versa, does not impede communication. Yet your Dutch sounds more natural if you follow the rules.

What exactly is the difference?

The most important difference is:

You use the perfectum to name a single action in the past.
You use the imperfect to describe the past.

We look at an example:

• Sentence 1. (Perfectum): Ik heb gisteren een kaartje voor het concert gekocht.
• Sentence 2. (Imperfectum): Ik kocht gisteren een kaartje voor het concert.

In sentence 1. The focus is on the action or the result of that action. You bought a ticket and that's it.

In sentence 2. The sentence seems to describe the situation in the past. We expect a story to come.

Let's dive into sentence 2, in imperfect tense (imperfectum)

• Ik kocht gisteren een kaartje voor het concert en vijf minuten later was het concert uitverkocht! Ik was net op tijd. Wat een geluk!

As you can see we are telling a story, where the imperfect is used for an action that is not the central point, but part of the whole.

Stories, such as fairy tales, are almost always written in the imperfectum. The same applies to descriptions of a period in the past. Some words often trigger description (so imperfectum), like vroeger, toen or in de jaren negentig.

Note that it doesn't really matter how long ago the past was. You can describe a situation that happened this morning or a situation 1000 years ago. As long as it's description, it's imperfectum.

You also almost always use the imperfect for emotions or character traits of people in the past.

Here are some examples.

• Roodkapje was onderweg naar haar grootmoeder, toen zij de wolf zag*.
• Vroeger schreven mensen brieven, nu gebruiken ze e-mail.
• Mijn opa was een hele lieve, intelligente man.
• Het feestje was fantastisch.
• Peter werd boos toen hij het nieuws hoorde.

*Listen to our podcast if you want to hear the story of Roodkapje (Red Riding Hood) in imperfectum.

Combining perfectum and imperfectum

Sometimes perfectum an imperfectum are mixed in a story. Why? Well, let's look an example.

• Gisteren zat ik in een restaurant. Het was er erg druk. De ober had veel te doen. Ik bestelde een glas rode wijn. Het duurde heel erg lang. Na 20 minuten kwam de ober eindelijk! En hij bracht me geen rode wijn, maar appelsap! Een foutje van de ober! Ik heb de appelsap opgedronken, omdat ik geen zin had om langer te wachten.

So why is the sentence "ik heb de appelsap opgedronken" perfectum? Well, it's as if we want to put a little spotlight on that action. It's often the climax of the situation. You kind of lift it out of the rest of the story. Note that using imperfectum (ik dronk de appelsap op) would also be correct, but it would sound monotonous with the rest of the story.

Very often, students learn that the perfect tense is connected to the present. Which is true too (more about that below), but in many cases that rule doesn't explain it all. The most import thing to remember is imperfectum is for describing and telling stories that happened in the past (whether it was this morning, or 1000 years ago) and you can use the perfectum to put the spotlight on a single action.

Another example, about a far away past:

• Mijn overgrootmoeder was een lieve, sterke vrouw. Haar ouders hadden een boerderij. Als kind werkte ze elke dag op het land en zorgde ze voor haar broertjes en zusjes. In 1921 verhuisde ze naar Den Bosch. Daar heeft ze mijn overgrootvader ontmoet. Samen kregen ze 11 kinderen.

In this little story, is one sentence in perfect tense: "Daar heeft ze mijn opa ontmoet." Now, why? Well, just like in the other story, I could have used imperfectum too. But with perfectum we put a little spotlight on her meeting my greatgrandfather. Does this mean that imperfectum and perfectum are interchangeable? Absolutely not! The first sentences of this story are description of a period. We cannot use perfectum there. The last three sentences are actions. These we can put both in perfectum and imperfectum.

Other differences between perfectum and imperfectum.

If the focus is on the result of an action or if the result is still perceptible, use the perfectum.

• Kijk, het heeft geregend. De straten zijn nat.
• Sorry, ik kom te laat. Ik heb mijn bus gemist.
• Bastiaan heeft zijn been gebroken, dus hij kan niet voetballen.
• Ik ben mijn sleutels verloren, dus heb ik een probleem!

If something has only happened once, never or a few times, you usually use the perfectum.

• Ik werkte vroeger in een café.
• Ik heb één dag in een café gewerkt.
• Ik heb een paar keer in een café gewerkt.
• Ik heb nooit in een café gewerkt.

These are the main differences you need to know to have a clear overview of the two tenses.

So, a small compilation, before we go to do the exercises.

What are the differences between Perfectum and Imperfectum in Dutch.

We use the Perfect tense:

1) To name a single action in the past.

2) When the focus is on the result of an action or if the result is still perceptible.

3) Something has only happened once, never or a few times.

We use Imperfect Tense:

To describe the past, in stories, fairytales or emotions and character traits of people in the past.

Want to practice more?

We've got exercise PDF's about both the perfectum and the imperfectum in our Book Shop.

Pro member? Use the flashcards below to study over 100 irregular verbs in perfectum & imperfectum!