Participial Constructions in Dutch

Overview

Participial constructions, or deelwoordconstructies, allow you to use verb forms as adjectives and to create compact, reduced clauses. In Dutch, both the present participle (tegenwoordig deelwoord) and the past participle (voltooid deelwoord) can be used this way. If you have ever encountered phrases like de werkende bevolking (the working population) or de gestolen fiets (the stolen bicycle), you have already seen participial constructions in action.

At the B2 level, mastering these constructions lets you write and understand more sophisticated Dutch, especially in written and formal registers. Participial constructions are much more common in written Dutch than in speech, and they are a hallmark of newspaper articles, academic texts, and formal reports. They allow you to pack more information into fewer words, replacing entire relative clauses with concise adjectival phrases.

These constructions build directly on the past participle knowledge you developed when learning the present perfect tense at A2. Now you will expand that knowledge to use participles in a completely new role -- not as parts of verb tenses, but as descriptive modifiers.

How It Works

Present Participle (Tegenwoordig Deelwoord)

Formation: verb stem + -d + -e (when used as adjective before a noun)

Infinitive	Present Participle	As Adjective	English
werken	werkend	de werkende vrouw	the working woman
slapen	slapend	een slapende hond	a sleeping dog
lachen	lachend	het lachende kind	the laughing child
groeien	groeiend	een groeiend probleem	a growing problem
volgen	volgend	de volgende dag	the following day
leven	levend	een levende legende	a living legend

Key rule: The present participle always gets -e when placed before a noun (standard adjective inflection rules apply, but since participles are long, they almost always inflect).

The present participle describes an ongoing action -- the subject is performing the action:

• de slapende hond = the dog that is sleeping
• de werkende bevolking = the population that works

Past Participle as Adjective

You already know past participles from the present perfect (ik heb gewerkt). As adjectives, they follow normal adjective inflection:

Past Participle	As Adjective	English
gestolen	de gestolen fiets	the stolen bicycle
gebroken	een gebroken hart	a broken heart
gesloten	de gesloten deur	the closed door
geschreven	een geschreven brief	a written letter
verboden	verboden toegang	forbidden access
verborgen	een verborgen schat	a hidden treasure

The past participle describes a completed action or resulting state -- the subject has been acted upon:

• de gestolen fiets = the bicycle that was stolen
• een gebroken hart = a heart that has been broken

Extended Participial Phrases

In written Dutch, participles can carry additional modifiers, creating compact phrases that replace relative clauses:

Participial Construction	Equivalent Relative Clause	English
de in Amsterdam werkende vrouw	de vrouw die in Amsterdam werkt	the woman working in Amsterdam
een door de politie gezochte man	een man die door de politie gezocht wordt	a man wanted by the police
de gisteren ontvangen brief	de brief die gisteren ontvangen is	the letter received yesterday
het langzaam rijzende water	het water dat langzaam rijst	the slowly rising water

Word order in extended phrases: modifiers come before the participle, which comes before the noun:

• de [door de storm beschadigde] huizen (the [by the storm damaged] houses)

Absolute Participial Constructions

These are standalone phrases that set the scene, similar to English:

Dutch	English
Goed beschouwd is het niet zo moeilijk.	All things considered, it's not that difficult.
Eerlijk gezegd vind ik het niks.	Honestly speaking, I don't think much of it.
Strikt genomen klopt dat niet.	Strictly speaking, that's not correct.
Dat gezegd hebbende...	That having been said...
Alles bij elkaar genomen...	All things taken together...

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
de werkende bevolking	the working population	Present participle as adjective
de gestolen fiets	the stolen bicycle	Past participle as adjective
Goed beschouwd is het niet zo moeilijk.	All things considered, it's not that difficult.	Absolute construction
een slapende hond	a sleeping dog	Present participle
de door brand verwoeste fabriek	the factory destroyed by fire	Extended past participial phrase
het almaar groeiende probleem	the ever-growing problem	Extended present participial phrase
Eerlijk gezegd weet ik het niet.	Honestly speaking, I don't know.	Fixed absolute construction
de net aangekomen trein	the just-arrived train	Separable verb participle
een goed onderhouden tuin	a well-maintained garden	Compound participial adjective
de luid zingende vogels	the loudly singing birds	Present participle with adverb
Strikt genomen heb je gelijk.	Strictly speaking, you're right.	Absolute construction
het pas geopende restaurant	the recently opened restaurant	Extended past participial phrase

Common Mistakes

Forgetting Adjective Inflection

• Wrong: de werkend vrouw
• Right: de werkende vrouw
• Why: When a participle is used as an adjective before a noun, it follows standard adjective inflection rules. It almost always takes -e.

Confusing Present and Past Participle Meaning

• Wrong: de stervende man when you mean "the man who died" (completed)
• Right: de gestorven man (the man who died) vs de stervende man (the man who is dying)
• Why: Present participle = ongoing action. Past participle = completed action or resulting state.

Wrong Word Order in Extended Phrases

• Wrong: de gestolen door een dief fiets
• Right: de door een dief gestolen fiets
• Why: In extended participial phrases, all modifiers come before the participle, and the participle comes directly before the noun.

Overusing Participial Constructions in Speech

• Wrong (in casual speech): De door mijn buurman gisteren aan mij overhandigde brief...
• Right (in speech): De brief die mijn buurman mij gisteren gaf...
• Why: Extended participial constructions are primarily a written feature. In spoken Dutch, relative clauses sound more natural.

Incorrect Participle of Separable Verbs

• Wrong: de aan gekomen trein
• Right: de aangekomen trein
• Why: In participial adjective use, separable verbs stay together: aankomen becomes aangekomen as one word.

Usage Notes

Participial constructions are significantly more common in written Dutch than in spoken Dutch. In newspapers, academic texts, and formal reports, you will encounter extended participial phrases regularly. In conversation, speakers generally prefer relative clauses.

The absolute constructions (goed beschouwd, eerlijk gezegd, strikt genomen) are exceptions -- these are common in both spoken and written Dutch and function as fixed expressions.

There is no significant difference between Netherlands and Flemish Dutch in how participial constructions work, though Flemish formal writing may use them slightly less frequently.

Practice Tips

• Read Dutch newspaper articles and highlight all participial constructions. Try converting them to relative clauses and back again. This builds your ability to move between the two forms.
• Memorize the common absolute constructions (goed beschouwd, eerlijk gezegd, strikt genomen, over het geheel genomen) as fixed phrases. They are useful in both writing and speaking.
• When writing formal Dutch, practice replacing some of your relative clauses with participial constructions. Start with simple ones (de gestolen auto) before attempting extended phrases (de door de politie gezochte verdachte).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Perfect -- provides the foundation of past participle formation that participial constructions rely on
• Next steps: Academic Dutch -- where participial constructions are used extensively
• Next steps: Indirect Questions -- another B2 construction for building more complex sentences