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Parts of speech - Woordsoorten
Verbs according to function
Verbs can be divided according to function into three groups: main verbs, copular verbs and auxiliary verbs.
MAIN VERBS
Main verbs express the main 'activity' of the sentence. In the following examples they are given in bold. Main verbs can be further subdivided according to their meaning.
| 's Winters kan het hard vriezen. Dan wordt er in Nederland veel geschaatst en de provincie Friesland organiseert een schaatswedstrijd van 250 kilometer langs elf steden. Die Elfstedentocht vindt alleen plaats als het lang en hard gevroren heeft. |
In winter there can be severe frost. They then skate a lot in the Netherlands and the province of Friesland organises a 250-kilometer skating race along eleven cities. This 'Elfstedentocht' only takes place when the frost has been long and hard. |
COPULAR VERBS
There is a small group of these verbs. They only occur in so-called nominal predicates. The most common ones are:
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zijn
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to be |
| worden |
to become |
| blijven |
to stay |
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| Het is/wordt/blijft mooi weer. |
The weather is/becomes/remains nice. |
AUXILIARY VERBS
Auxiliaries can be said to support the main verb grammatically. In the above text about skating they are given in white.
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