Welcome to Dutch verbs, episode 8: gaan, which means to go. In Dutch it is spelled:
g. a. a. n.
Gaan means to go, but it also doubles as an informal future tense - the equivalent of English 'going to'. Useful in everyday conversation.
Present tense. Listen and repeat.
Ik ga. — I go.
Jij gaat. — You go.
Hij gaat. — He goes.
Wij gaan. — We go.
Jullie gaan. — You all go.
Zij gaan. — They go.
One more time, straight through.
Ik ga. Jij gaat. Hij gaat. Wij gaan. Jullie gaan. Zij gaan. — Past tense: ging for singular, gingen for plural.
Ik ging. Jij ging. Hij ging. — I went, you went, he went.
Wij gingen. Jullie gingen. Zij gingen. — We went, you all went, they went.
For the literal future, zullen plus gaan. But the more common construction in spoken Dutch is gaan plus another infinitive - the going-to future.
Ik ga morgen werken.
That means: I am going to work tomorrow. Two infinitives stacked - gaan as auxiliary, werken as main verb.
Now three example sentences.
Ik ga naar huis. — I'm going home.
Hoe gaat het? — How is it going? The standard 'how are you' in Dutch.
Wij gingen naar Amsterdam. — We went to Amsterdam.
That is episode 8. The verb gaan, meaning to go. Forms to remember: ga, gaat, gaan, ging, gingen.
Today's Brueghel proverb.
Twee gezichten onder één kap.
Twee gezichten onder één kap. — Literally: two faces under one hood.
Meaning: duplicity - saying one thing and meaning another. Example:
Pas op voor hem - twee gezichten onder één kap. — Watch out for him - he's two-faced.
Fijne dag nog!
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