Figuring out which auxiliary verb to choose in a sentence, to be or to have, is a difficult thing to master in many languages – I mean, even Shakespeare clearly wasn’t sure. It’s no different in Dutch, although thankfully, there are a few rules of thumb you can apply to get a general idea. Are you wondering whether to use hebben or zijn? Read on!
Just like English, and many other languages, Dutch uses zijn (to be) and hebben (to have) as the auxiliary verb in most sentences that feature a past participle – more about those here. To have is much more common in English, but Dutch, and many other languages, often opts for to be instead. When learning Dutch, you’ll eventually develop a feel for which one to use, but until then, you can always fall back on this set of rules to determine what’s going on.
Hebben
We’ll start with hebben (to have) because the rules are quite simple. The most basic rule is: the auxiliary verb for most verbs is hebben. There. (Harry: I realize it’s not much to go on. Seamus: That’s nothing to go on.)
Hebben is also always used when the sentence features a direct object. When you’re doing something with or to an object, you can bet hebben is the auxiliary verb to go with:
ik heb een appel gegeten (I have eaten an apple)
ze heeft haar haar gewassen (she has washed her hair – more on repeating words in the post about Double Dutch)
we hebben de planten water gegeven (we have watered the plants, literally: we have given the plants water)
Zijn
Zijn (to be) has more rules to it, but that’s probably a good thing. There’s two main ones.
Movement
When physical movement is involved, zijn is often the way to go. This goes for verbs like gaan (to go), komen (to come), vertrekken (to leave) and arriveren/aankomen (to arrive):
(Mind you, in English, you don’t always have to use the past participle in sentences like these, but I’ll use it for clarity.)
ik ben naar de winkel geweest (I have been to the store)
hij is gisteren aangekomen (he has arrived yesterday)
we zijn naar huis gelopen (we have walked home)
Often, both hebben and zijn can be used, but they’re used in different types of sentences. Remember that zijn is all about actual movement from point A to point B, while hebben is more about the object you’re doing something to:
ik ben naar huis gereden (I have driven home – literally from one place to another)
ik heb mijn auto gereden (I have driven my car – the direct object “mijn auto” means hebben is correct here)
In this last example, it doesn’t really matter where you went, or even if you just drove around in circles, it’s mainly about having driven in your car.
Change of state
A similar thing happens when a physical or mental state is involved, and changed, either of yourself or of something else. This goes for words like worden (to become), groeien (to grow), beginnen (to begin) and eindigen (to end):
ik ben groter geworden (I have become taller)
ze zijn gegroeid (they have grown)
de film is net begonnen (the movie has just begun)
de les is geëindigd (the lesson has ended – more on the diacritical mark here)
A few more examples
The difference between hebben and zijn is easy to see when you consider the difference between to repair and to be repaired:
ik heb mijn fiets gerepareerd (I have repaired my bike -> direct object -> hebben)
mijn fiets is gerepareerd (My bike has been repaired -> change of state -> zijn)
In the first sentence, you’re talking specifically about you repairing your bike; in the second, your bike is the subject, and there’s no direct object involved. Note how Dutch doesn’t use “has been” as a grammatical possibility, we simply choose between zijn and hebben. Some more examples:
Ik ben natgeregend (lit: I have been rained wet -> change of state -> zijn)
De regen heeft me nat gemaakt (The rain has made me wet -> direct object -> hebben)
Ik ben naar huis gegaan (I have gone home -> movement -> zijn)
Ik heb mijn huis geschilderd (I have painted my house -> direct object -> hebben)
Hij heeft een marathon gelopen (He has run (“walked”) a marathon -> direct object -> hebben)
Hij is weggelopen (he has walked away -> movement -> zijn)
English vs. the rest
For once, English is the odd one out here. Many Western European languages use a fairly simple distinction between to be and to have, and the rules to determine which one to use often involve things like a change in state or movement. French, German and Italian use similar rules (Spanish just took out all difficulties and always uses haber as the auxiliary verb), but English has oversimplified things a bit, and often just uses to have even when most Latin- or Germanic-based languages use to be in certain sentences.
Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is entirely up to you, but speakers of other languages will probably experience much less trouble getting it right in Dutch than English (and Spanish) speakers will.
Long story is short gemaakt (change of state -> zijn)
Sentences that feature the past participle are usually made with a form of hebben (to have) or zijn (to be), as is the case in most languages around this neck of the linguistic woods. Often, only one of them is correct, but sometimes either can be used, although that will result in a semantic difference in meaning between the two.
Determining which one to use isn’t necessarily easy, but there are some basic rules that work in the vast majority of cases: zijn is used when physical movement or a change of state are involved, hebben when there’s a direct object, and in most other cases.
Speakers of German, French and Italian won’t run into a lot of issues, save for a few exceptions here and there; speakers of English and Spanish will have to get used to the two widely spread options. Either way, I hope that you niet bent weggerend (haven’t run away, movement), that you wijzer bent geworden (have become smarter, change of state) by reading this post, and that you je computer niet tegen de muur hebt gegooid (haven’t thrown your pc into the wall – direct object, quite literally).
