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Perfectum en Imperfectum

The document discusses the difference between the perfectum and imperfectum tenses in Dutch. The perfectum is used for stating facts about completed past events whose results or implications remain relevant to the present. The imperfectum is used for descriptions of ongoing or repeated past actions or states. Recent news reports often use the perfectum for introductory and concluding sentences that frame a descriptive narrative in the imperfectum. Determining whether to use the perfectum or imperfectum depends on whether the focus is on a completed event or a past situation.

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Thijs van der Linden
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330 views2 pages

Perfectum en Imperfectum

The document discusses the difference between the perfectum and imperfectum tenses in Dutch. The perfectum is used for stating facts about completed past events whose results or implications remain relevant to the present. The imperfectum is used for descriptions of ongoing or repeated past actions or states. Recent news reports often use the perfectum for introductory and concluding sentences that frame a descriptive narrative in the imperfectum. Determining whether to use the perfectum or imperfectum depends on whether the focus is on a completed event or a past situation.

Uploaded by

Thijs van der Linden
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PERFECTUM OF IMPERFECTUM? WHICH ONE TO USE?

PERFECTUM IMPERFECTUM

STATING FACTS ABOUT THE PAST DESCRIPTION ABOUT A CERTAIN PAST EVENT
(often multiple verbs used)
BRINGING THE LISTENER BACK TO THE MOMENT
MOSTLY SINGULAR EVENTS THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING ON A REGULAR BASIS
RESULT STILL IMPORTANT/VALID IN THE IT’S NOT ABOUT THE RESULT IN THE NOW
PRESENT

RECOMMENDABLE READING THIS↓ WEB PAGE:


https://zichtbaarnederlands.nl/nl/verbum/wanneer_imperfectum_perfectum

The perfect tense and past tense (imperfect) are both used to talk events or situations from the past.
However, there is a difference.

The perfect tense is much more common in Dutch than in English and it is used slightly differently.

Vorige week ben ik in Antwerpen geweest. Heb jij die stad al bezocht?
Last week I was in Antwerp. Have you visited that city yet?
Stating a fact; the result - that I’ve been there and now I know what it’s like - is important. That’s
why I ask “Heb jij die stad al bezocht?” (or: “Ben je daar weleens geweest?”)

BUT, if you would start with this information (being in Antwerp) because you are storytelling, or
describing what was happening/going on in that moment, you’ll use the IMPERFECTUM:

Ik weet het nog goed; ik was in Antwerpen toen ik hoorde dat Sean Connery dood is.

The most important principle to bear in mind is that the perfectum is used to refer to events in the
past which are still relevant at the moment of speaking (or writing), whereas the imperfectum is used
merely descriptive. The following excerpt from an email about a visit to Blijdorp zoo in Rotterdam is an
example of this:

We zijn vandaag met Luuk naar Blijdorp geweest. Today we went to Blijdorp with Luuk.
Dat was een avontuur! That was an adventure!
We liepen daar vrolijk rond, We were walking around happily,
en kletsten over van alles en nog wat, and we were talking about this and that,
maar ineens waren we Luuk kwijt. but suddenly we had lost Luuk.
Na een uur hebben we hem weer gevonden. After an hour we found him again.

The first and last sentences of the above piece use the perfect tense. The first one introduces the
‘story’. The relevance here is that for the writer of the email it is still very much alive (it happened
today!) and it gives a context for the rest of the story, which is also important for the receiver of the
email. The last sentence concludes the email, but the fact that Luuk was found is still relevant at the
moment of writing: he is no longer lost! Hence these two sentences are in the perfect tense. In
contrast, the three intervening sentences give a lively description of wat was going on in the zoo.
Hence they are in the past tense.

You will find that recent news reports are often structured in a similar way. (Click on the front page of
any news site e.g. nu.nl and read some of the top stories).

Emotie / mening / staat van zijn ← imperfectum: Ik vond die film niet zo leuk. Ik had geen goed gevoel bij
die situatie. Ik was niet tevreden over het resultaat. --> because emotions and such inherently
describe the situation
Perfectum:

- het gaat over het verleden, maximaal tot nu, niet inclusief nu.
- feitelijk (factual)
- het gaat om het resultaat en niet om het moment dat het gebeurde (was happening!!)

Ik ben een paar dagen in Londen, tot zondag om precies te zijn. ← Zaterdag kom ik terug
Ik ben van donderdag t/m zaterdag in Londen.

tot vandaag, until today


tot en met (t/m) vandaag, until and including today

Ik werk van maandag tot en met vrijdag.

aangenaam = Nice to meet you. FORMAL

Leuk (om) je(object) te ontmoeten.


Leuk om hem te leren kennen. = Nice to get to know him.

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