Prepositions of Time in Dutch

In Brief

Use om for a precise clock time, op for a day or date, and in for a month, year, season, or longer period: om acht uur, op maandag, in januari. Dutch also uses 's in fixed parts-of-day expressions, while voor, na, sinds, and tot locate an event before, after, from, or up to another point in time.

Overview

A preposition is a short word that shows a relationship between other words. A preposition of time tells you how an event relates to a time: at eight, on Monday, before lunch, or since 2020. In Dutch, the most useful beginner pattern is based on the size and function of the time expression: om for clock times, op for calendar days, and in for larger calendar periods.

This is an A1 topic because these words appear whenever you arrange a meeting, discuss a schedule, or say when something happens. The individual words are simple, but English and Dutch do not always divide time in exactly the same way. English at night, for example, is normally Dutch 's nachts, not om nacht.

The core rules cover most everyday situations. Later sections distinguish a one-time Monday from every Monday, explain expressions that need no preposition, and compare sinds, vanaf, and tot.

How It Works

The beginner pattern: om, op, and in

Time expression	Dutch form	Main use	Example	English meaning
Exact clock time	om	a point shown on the clock	om acht uur	at eight o'clock
Day or date	op	a named calendar day	op maandag, op 12 juni	on Monday, on 12 June
Month or year	in	a larger calendar period	in januari, in 2024	in January, in 2024
Season or broad period	in	within a period	in de zomer, in de middeleeuwen	in summer, in the Middle Ages

Use om before a precise time:

• De trein vertrekt om 7.15 uur. — The train leaves at 7:15.
• We eten om half zeven. — We eat at half past six.
• De les begint om kwart over negen. — The lesson starts at quarter past nine.

Remember that Dutch clock language may count toward the next hour: half zeven is 6:30, not 7:30. The preposition remains om.

Use op with named days and dates:

• op dinsdag — on Tuesday
• op mijn verjaardag — on my birthday
• op 5 mei — on 5 May
• op oudejaarsavond — on New Year's Eve

Use in with months, years, seasons, centuries, and other periods:

• in februari — in February
• in 2030 — in 2030
• in de winter — in winter
• in de twintigste eeuw — in the twentieth century

Dutch month and day names normally begin with a lowercase letter: maandag, januari. That differs from English capitalization.

Fixed expressions with 's

The 's in expressions such as 's morgens is a surviving old grammatical form. You do not need to build it yourself; learn each expression as a fixed phrase. It is written with an apostrophe before the s.

Dutch expression	English meaning	Note
's morgens / 's ochtends	in the morning	's ochtends is very common
's middags	in the afternoon	fixed expression
's avonds	in the evening	fixed expression
's nachts	at night	not om nacht

These expressions often describe a usual or general time: 's Avonds lees ik vaak. When the expression begins a sentence, the first letter after 's is capitalized: 's Avonds. The s itself stays lowercase.

For one particular morning or evening, Dutch often uses in plus a definite article: in de ochtend, in de middag, in de avond. A more specific phrase is also possible: op maandagochtend (on Monday morning).

Voor and na: before and after

Voor places something earlier than a reference point; na places it later. The reference point is usually a noun or time expression.

• voor het eten — before the meal / before eating
• voor acht uur — before eight o'clock
• na de les — after class
• na middernacht — after midnight

These words can refer to either clock time or a sequence of events. Bel me na het werk means that the call should happen once work has ended.

Do not confuse temporal voor (“before”) with its spatial meaning “in front of” or its other common meaning “for.” Context normally makes the intended meaning clear.

Sinds: since a starting point

Sinds introduces the point at which a situation began and implies that it continues up to the reference time, usually now:

• Ik woon sinds 2021 in Utrecht. — I have lived in Utrecht since 2021.
• Sinds maandag is ze ziek. — She has been ill since Monday.

English often uses a perfect tense with since. Dutch commonly uses the present tense when the situation is still true: Ik werk hier sinds mei literally has a present-tense verb, even though English says “I have worked here since May.”

A duration answers “how long?” and normally does not take sinds: Ik woon hier al drie jaar (I have lived here for three years). A starting point answers “since when?”: sinds 2023.

Tot: until or up to

Tot marks an endpoint:

• Ik werk tot vijf uur. — I work until five.
• De winkel is open tot zaterdag. — The shop is open until Saturday.
• van negen tot elf — from nine to eleven

In schedules, van ... tot ... gives both boundaries: De receptie is van maandag tot vrijdag open. Whether the final point itself is included can depend on the situation. If precision matters, give an exact end time or explain it explicitly.

Where the time phrase goes

A short time phrase can appear later in the sentence:

• Ik begin om negen uur.

It can also come first for emphasis. Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule: the conjugated verb (the verb carrying tense) then comes before the subject.

• Om negen uur begin ik. — At nine o'clock I begin.
• Op maandag werk ik thuis. — On Monday I work from home.

English speakers often keep English subject–verb order after an opening time phrase. Dutch requires Op maandag werk ik, not Op maandag ik werk.

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
De vergadering begint om tien uur.	The meeting starts at ten o'clock.	om + clock time
De bus komt om kwart voor zes.	The bus comes at quarter to six.	precise time
Op woensdag haal ik de kinderen op.	On Wednesday I pick up the children.	op + day
We trouwen op 14 september.	We are getting married on 14 September.	op + date
In januari zijn de dagen kort.	In January the days are short.	in + month
Zij is in 1998 geboren.	She was born in 1998.	in + year
In de zomer eten we vaak buiten.	In summer we often eat outside.	in + season
's Morgens werk ik thuis.	In the morning I work from home.	fixed 's expression
's Avonds belt hij zijn ouders.	In the evening he calls his parents.	opening phrase causes inversion
Neem dit medicijn voor het ontbijt.	Take this medicine before breakfast.	voor + event
Na de les drinken we koffie.	After class we have coffee.	na + event
Ik ken haar sinds 2020.	I have known her since 2020.	continuing situation
De bibliotheek is tot acht uur open.	The library is open until eight.	tot + endpoint
Het loket is van negen tot twaalf geopend.	The counter is open from nine to twelve.	paired boundaries
Op maandagochtend heb ik een afspraak.	I have an appointment on Monday morning.	specific day + part of day

Common Mistakes

Using in with a day

• Wrong: in maandag
• Right: op maandag
• Why: Named days take op. Use in for larger periods such as months and years.

Using op with an exact clock time

• Wrong: De film begint op acht uur.
• Right: De film begint om acht uur.
• Why: A precise clock time takes om.

Translating “at night” word for word

• Wrong: om nacht werk ik
• Right: 's Nachts werk ik.
• Why: Dutch uses the fixed expression 's nachts for “at night.”

Keeping English word order after an opening phrase

• Wrong: Op vrijdag ik werk niet.
• Right: Op vrijdag werk ik niet.
• Why: When the time phrase occupies first position, the conjugated verb comes second and the subject follows it.

Using sinds with a length of time

• Wrong: Ik woon sinds drie jaar hier.
• Right: Ik woon hier al drie jaar.
• Why: Sinds normally introduces a starting point, such as sinds 2023. A length of time is expressed directly, often with al when it is still continuing.

Copying the English perfect tense mechanically

• Awkward for a current situation: Ik heb sinds januari hier gewerkt.
• Natural: Ik werk hier sinds januari.
• Why: Dutch commonly uses the present tense for a state or activity that began in the past and still continues.

Usage Notes

Dutch often omits a preposition where English uses one. Common time adverbs stand alone: vandaag (today), morgen (tomorrow), gisteren (yesterday), and volgende week (next week). Say Ik kom morgen, not op morgen, and We gaan volgende week, not in volgende week.

A bare day name can also function as an adverb, especially in everyday speech: Ik kom maandag means “I'm coming on Monday.” Op maandag can mean one Monday in context, but it is also commonly read as a regular schedule: Op maandag werk ik thuis (“I work from home on Mondays”). For an unmistakably recurring habit, Dutch can use maandags: Maandags is het museum dicht.

Parts of the day combine in several useful ways:

• 's ochtends — in the mornings / in the morning generally
• in de ochtend — in the morning, often a defined period
• morgenochtend — tomorrow morning
• op vrijdagochtend — on Friday morning

In the Netherlands, in het weekend is standard. You may also encounter op het weekend in Belgian Dutch. Learners can safely use in het weekend as the broadly understood default.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these contrasts at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Sinds and vanaf

Both can introduce a starting point, but they view it differently. Sinds looks back from a later time and normally describes something continuing: Sinds april woont hij hier. Vanaf means “starting from” and is common for a future or announced starting point: Vanaf april is het museum langer open. In some present-time contexts they overlap, but they are not always interchangeable.

Voor and na versus voordat and nadat

Use voor and na before a noun or noun-like expression:

• voor de vergadering — before the meeting
• na het eten — after the meal / after eating

Use voordat and nadat when a full clause follows. A clause is a group of words containing its own subject and verb:

• Voordat de vergadering begint, drinken we koffie. — Before the meeting starts, we have coffee.
• Nadat hij had gegeten, ging hij weg. — After he had eaten, he left.

These conjunctions send the verbs of their clause toward the end, which belongs to a later word-order topic.

Tot, totdat, and tot en met

Tot normally precedes a time expression: tot vrijdag. Totdat introduces a full clause: Wacht totdat ik terugkom (Wait until I return). In speech, tot can sometimes also introduce such a clause, but totdat makes the structure especially clear.

Use tot en met when you explicitly mean “up to and including”: De tentoonstelling loopt tot en met zondag. This avoids uncertainty about whether Sunday is included.

Time needed to complete something

Dutch in can also describe the amount of time needed to finish an action:

• Ik lees dit boek in twee dagen. — I will read/finish this book in two days.

This differs from over twee dagen, which means “two days from now”:

• Ik vertrek over twee dagen. — I leave in two days.

English uses in for both ideas, so this Dutch contrast deserves special attention.

Practice Tips

1. Sort real appointments into three columns. Write five clock times with om, five days or dates with op, and five months or years with in. Then turn each phrase into a complete sentence.
2. Practice sentence openings aloud. Transform Ik werk op maandag thuis into Op maandag werk ik thuis. This trains both the preposition and Dutch verb-second word order.
3. Build a timeline. Choose one real activity and describe its start, duration, and endpoint: Ik werk hier sinds 2022. Ik werk van negen tot vijf. Na het werk ga ik naar huis.

Related Concepts

• Useful foundation: Time and Dates — clock expressions, weekdays, months, and Dutch date forms.
• Useful foundation: Basic Word Order — explains why the subject follows the verb when a time phrase comes first.
• Compare with: Time Adverbs — covers words such as nu, vandaag, morgen, and gisteren, which normally need no preposition.
• Later step: Subordinating Conjunctions — develops clause forms such as voordat, nadat, and totdat.