Dutch Courses » Advanced Course » Parts of Speech » Verb Conjugation

Verb Conjugation

This document is about the spelling of Dutch verbs. It is the sequel to the article about Verb Tenses. You can read that one first if this article is too difficult.

You can find a number of Dutch verbs in the verb list. Each verb has a conjugation table.

Content

Reading a Dictionary
Spelling Summary
Types of Verbs
Simple Present - Weak and Strong Verbs
Simple Present - Verbs having an aan ending
Simple Present - Irregular Verbs
Simple Past - Weak Verbs
Simple Past - Strong Verbs
Simple Past - Irregular Verbs
The Past Participle
Spelling Problem Weak Past Participles: d or t
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Auxiliary Verbs
Simple Future
Future Perfect
Conditional
Conditional Perfect
The Infinitive
Modal Verbs
Present Participle
Compound Verbs
Verb Prefixes
Spelling Problem Present Tense: word or wordt
Present Tense Conjugation of the Verb leven

Reading a Dictionary

The dictionary might show just one word, when you look up a verb.
to celebrate (verb) vieren
Explanation:

  • The word vieren is the infinitive. If a verb is weak and regular, that is all you need to know to make the conjugations of the simple present and simple past.

    The dictionary might show more:
    to celebrate (verb) vieren, vierde, gevierd
    Explanation:

  • The word vieren is the infinitive.
  • The word vierde is the past tense for ik (I) and other singular persons.
  • The word gevierd is the past participle. Every verb has one, except a special verb like zullen (shall, will).

    The dictionary might add information about the auxiliary verb:
    to celebrate (verb) vieren, vierde, heb gevierd
    Explanation:

  • The phrase heb gevierd applies to ik, and means have celebrated. It shows that hebben (to have) is the auxiliary verb for the perfect tenses.
    ik heb gevierd - I have celebrated
    ik had gevierd - I had celebrated

    The dictionary might show:
    to come (verb) komen, kwam, ben gekomen
    Explanation:

  • The phrase ben gekomen applies to ik, and means have come. It shows that zijn (to be) is the auxiliary verb for the perfect tenses.
    ik ben gekomen - I have come
    ik was gekomen - I had come

    Spelling Summary

    Simple Present Tense - weak and strong verbs

    To make the present tense conjugation for ik (I, the first person)

  • remove en of the infinitive. The crude stem is the result. We will start to work with that.
  • Rule 1. If the crude stem ends with a z, remove z and add s.
  • Rule 2. If the crude stem ends with a v, remove v and add f.
  • Rule 3. If the last two letters of the crude stem are two identical consonants (tt, kk, etc.), remove one of the two.
  • Rule 4. When the last syllable of the crude stem is closed (a consonant at the end) and the corresponding syllable of the infinitive is open (a vowel at the end of the syllable), we have caused an unwanted pronunciation change. We can only solve this by making an extra adaptation to the crude stem. We must change the vowel of the crude stem. This can only be from a to aa, e to ee, o to oo, and from u to uu.
    Example: The crude stem of lopen is lop. The vowel in lop does not sound the same as the corresponding vowel in lopen. Therefore the crude stem lop is changed to loop to solve this.
  • The final result of applying these rules is the conjugation for ik (I). We call this result the stem.
    kiezen - ik kies - we kiezen - to choose - I choose - we choose
    leven - ik leef - hij leeft - we leven - to live - I live - he lives - we live
    bakken - ik bak - we bakken - to bake - I bake - we bake
    lopen - ik loop - we lopen - to walk - I walk - we walk
    voelen - ik voel - ze voelt - we voelen - to feel - she feels - we feel

    To make the present tense conjugation for the other persons in the singular:

  • Take the stem.
  • Add t, except when the verb precedes je or jij

    To make the present tense conjugation for the plural:

  • Take the infinitive and use it.

    Note for all persons (singular and plural): If the verb has a separable prefix

  • remove that prefix.
  • add it to the end of the phrase. It is not a part of the verb anymore, but a separate word.
    doorlopen - to walk on
    We lopen door. - We walk on.
    Loop je door? - Do you walk on?
    aankomen - to arrive
    we komen aan - we arrive

    Simple Present Tense - irregular verbs

    For irregular verbs, you need more information to conjugate the simple present tense.

    Simple Past Tense - weak verbs

    For weak verbs, take the same stem you have made when you worked on the 1st person present tense. Some extra letters are added to this stem to make the past tense of weak verbs. When the sound of the last letter of the crude stem is f, ch, s, t, k, or p, we add te in the singular and ten in the plural. In all the other cases we add de in the singular and den in the plural.
    voelen - we voelden - to feel - we felt
    bakken - hij bakte - to bake - we baked

    You can remember the six sounds by for instance memorising the phrase:

    Four Chinese speakers train kind people”

    Spelling adaptations apply to the singular and the plural.

  • Rule 1. If the crude stem ends with a z, remove z and add s.
  • Rule 2. If the crude stem ends with a v, remove v and add f.
  • Rule 3. If the last two letters of the crude stem are two identical consonants (tt, kk, etc.), remove one of the two.
  • Rule 4. When the last syllable of the crude stem is closed (a consonant at the end), and the corresponding vowel of the infinitive is part of an open syllable (the vowel at the end of the syllable), we must change the vowel of the crude stem from a to aa, e to ee, o to oo, or from u to uu.

    Simple Past Tense - strong and irregular verbs

    For strong and irregular verbs, you need more information to conjugate the simple past tense.

    Weak Past Participles

    When you know a verb is weak, you can find out what the past participle is.

  • make the crude stem of the verb by removing en.
  • Look at the last letter of the crude stem.
  • Six sounds take t-suffixes: f, ch, s, t, k, and p.
  • If the last letter of the crude stem is one of them, it must be a T-verb. The past participle will be: ge + stem + t.
  • Otherwise, it is a D-verb. Then the past participle will be: ge + stem + d.
  • If a double t ending occurs, remove one t.
    leven - ik heb geleefd - to live - I have lived
    wachten - ik heb gewacht - to wait - I have waited

    You can remember the six sounds by for instance memorising the phrase:

    Four Chinese speakers train kind people”

    Note: compound verbs are conjugated differently.

    Strong Past Participles

    To conjugate strong past participles you need more information about the verb involved. The ending is en.

    Types of Verbs

    There are five types of verbs in Dutch

  • irregular verbs
  • weak verbs of the T-class
  • weak verbs of the D-class
  • strong verbs
  • verbs with strong and weak elements

    Irregular verbs behave unpredictable. Important verbs are often irregular, like zijn (to be) and hebben (hebben):
    Ik ben. Ik was. Ik ben geweest. - I am. I was. I have been.
    Ik heb. Ik had. Ik heb gehad. - I have. I had. I have had.

    Weak verbs of the T-class are regular verbs. In the examples you can see that these verbs always have a t in the past tense.
    Ik pak. Ik pakte. Ik heb gepakt. - I grab. I grabbed. I have grabbed.
    Ik schaats. Ik schaatste. Ik heb geschaatst. - I skate. I skated. I have skated.

    Weak verbs of the D-class are regular verbs. In the examples you can see that these verbs always have a d in the past tense.
    Ik voel. Ik voelde. Ik heb gevoeld. - I feel. I felt. I have felt.
    Ik hoor. Ik hoorde. Ik heb gehoord. - I hear. I heard. I have heard.

    Strong verbs have vowel changes, when going from the simple present tense to the other tenses.
    When the verb is zingen the vowel changes from i to o. The word gezongen has an en ending, common for strong verbs.
    Ik zing. Ik zong. Ik heb gezongen. - I sing. I sang. I have sung.
    Ik kies. Ik koos. Ik heb gekozen. - I choose. I chose. I have chosen.

    Some verbs do not fit in one category, but in two categories. The verb bakken is weak, but gebakken looks like a strong element.
    Ik bak. Ik bakte. Ik heb gebakken. - I bake. I baked. I have baked.

    Simple Present - Weak and Strong Verbs

    To conjugate the singular (I, you, he, she, it) take the infinitive, remove en and make some adaptations when needed.
    To conjugate the plural (we, you, they) take the infinitive (the word you find in the dictionary) and used it.

    Note: If a verb is separable, then remove the separable prefix and add this prefix to the phrase as a separate word, at the end of the phrase.

    The table below shows the pattern of the simple present. The word stem must be replaced by the stem of the verb you use. Fill in the English translations at the dots (...).

    Once you have made the stem, the conjugation for all singular persons can be made. In the singular, add a t to the stem, except when the verb is followed by je or jij, or when the subject is ik.

    Simple Present Pattern
    for weak and strong verbs
    infinitive - simple present
    singularplural
    ik stemI ... we infinitive
    wij infinitive
    we ...
    we ...
    je stem + t
    u stem + t
    you ...
    you ...
    jullie infinitive you ...
    hij stem + t
    ze stem + t
    zij stem + t
    het stem + t
    he ...
    she ...
    she ...
    it ...
    ze infinitive
    zij infinitive
    they ...
    they ...

    Remind: In the present tense, when the verb proceeds jij or je, the verb loses the t.

    The persons u (you, formal), ze (she), zij (she), het (it), wij (we), zij (they) are not shown in every table. Small tables look like this:

    Simple Present Pattern
    for weak and strong verbs
    infinitive - simple present
    singularplural
    ik stemI ... we infinitive we ...
    je stem + t you ... jullie infinitive you ...
    hij stem + t he ... ze infinitive they ...

    Spelling Adaptations in the Singular

    In the singular (I, you, he, she, it), verbs often need some adaptations, that are not needed in the plural.

    When a verb does not need these special adaptations, the 1st person singular is made this way:

  • take the infinitive
  • remove the en-ending.
    Example:
    voelen, ik voel - to feel, I feel
    besluiten, ik besluit - to decide, I decide

    Four different kinds of adaptations occur. The first step is to remove en from the infinitive. The result we call the crude stem. After you have made the crude stem, adapt it using these four rules. The result after the application of the rules is called the stem.

    Rule 1. When the crude stem ends with a z, the first person singular ends with an s. The vowel sounds the same.
    reizen, ik reis - to travel, I travel
    kiezen, ik kies - to choose, I choose
    verliezen, ik verlies - to loose, I loose
    On the next verb, rule 4 was applied too.
    lezen, ik lees - to read, I read

    Rule 2. When the crude stem ends with a v, the first person singular ends with an f. The vowel sounds the same.
    blijven, ik blijf - to stay, I stay
    schrijven, ik schrijf - to write, I write
    On the next verb, rule 4 was applied too.
    geven, ik geef - to give, I give

    Rule 3. A double-consonant-ending (like kk) is not allowed. We have to remove a k from the crude stem to get bak.
    bakken, ik bak - to bake, I bake
    Other examples:
    vullen, ik vul - to fill, I fill
    redden, ik red - to save, I save
    vallen, ik val - to fall, I fall
    stappen, ik stap - to step, I step

    Rule 4. Pronunciation Maintenance Rule (of the Vowel)
    Look at the vowel of the last syllable of the crude stem. That vowel must be pronounced the same as the vowel in the infinitive. Otherwise, the crude stem must be adapted by changing the vowel. If it is necessary to adapt the vowel, a becomes aa, e becomes ee, o becomes oo, or u becomes uu. (The vowel i is not in this list, and neither are sounds like ei or eu.)

    Rules 2 and 4 are applied to conjugate geven (to give). The pronunciation difference between the consonants v and f is not large.

    geven (to give) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik geefI givewe gevenwe give
    je geeftyou givejullie gevenyou give
    hij geefthe givesze geventhey give

    Example of rule 4:
    weten is to know. Translate: “I know.”

  • The crude stem of weten (to know) is wet.
  • The vowel in wet is incorrect, because it will not be pronounced as in weten. We change wet to the final result: weet. The ee in this word is pronounced like ay in may, just like the first vowel of the infinitive weten. This adaptation is needed to guarantee the right pronunciation.
    Result: Ik weet.

    Example of rule 4:
    lezen is to read. Translate: “I read.”
    To this verb, two adaptations are made:

  • The crude stem of lezen is lez.
  • The z is changed to s. We get les (see rule 1)
  • The vowel in les is incorrect, because it will not be pronounced as in lezen. We change les to the final result: lees. The ee in this word is pronounced like ay in may, just like the first vowel of the infinitive lezen. This adaptation is needed to guarantee the right pronunciation.
    Result: Ik lees.

    Other examples of rule 4:
    slapen, ik slaap - to sleep, I sleep
    laten, ik laat - to let, I let

    Exceptions to rule 4. An often occurring irregularity
    Sometimes, rule 4 is not applied deliberately. Then we get a pronunciation change.
    Example:
    The stem of komen (to come) is kom. The vowel o in komen is pronounced like oo. That is a clear sound, because it is an open syllable.
    The 1st person conjugation is kom, while we would expect koom, after reading the rules. This is something irregular. We can only learn it by heart, when we want to know how to conjugate such a verb. The pronunciation of kom is dull, like o in the English word “dot”.
    komen, ik kom - to come, I come

    Komen is an exception to rule 4.

    komen (to come) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik komI comewe komenwe come
    je komtyou comejullie komenyou come
    hij komthe comesze komenthey come

    A Characteristic of the Simple Present Tense

    In the simple present, you cannot see the difference between:

  • strong verbs
  • weak verbs of the T-class
  • weak verbs of the D-class

    Example Verbs in the Simple Present Tense

    Example verb:
    Voelen is a weak, regular verb.

    The verb voelen (to feel) shows up in six ways. It depends on the person we talk about. First we remove en from the verb. The crude stem voel is the result. In this case the crude stem does not need any adaptations, so the stem is voel also. We add t or en to voel, or nothing at all.

    voelen (to feel) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik voelI feelwe voelenwe feel
    je voeltyou feeljullie voelenyou feel
    hij voelthe feelsze voelenthey feel

    When je (or jij) is the subject, the word order influences the spelling of the verb. The letter t of voelt is dropped, when voel precedes je. Then we get “voel je”. Otherwise we get “je voelt”. This can only happen in the present tense. In occurs in every verb (except when there is no t to loose).
    je voelt - you feel
    voel je - you feel
    voel je - do you feel

    In the present tense, you cannot see the difference between a weak and a strong verb. In the present tense, zingen (a strong verb) has the same pattern as voelen (a weak verb). The stem of zingen is zing. We add t, en or nothing to the stem.

    zingen (to sing) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik zingI singwe zingenwe sing
    je zingtyou singjullie zingenyou sing
    hij zingthe singsze zingenthey sing

    The verb betalen is weak.
    The dictionary shows: to pay (verb) betalen, betaalde, betaald.
    The word betalen is the infinitive. Make the present tense for ik by removing en and inserting an extra a to maintain the right pronunciation.

    betalen (to pay) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik betaalI paywe betalenwe pay
    je betaaltyou payjullie betalenyou pay
    hij betaalthe paysze betalenthey pay

    Simple Present - Verbs having an aan ending

    When the infinitive of a verb has an aan-ending (instead of the more common en-ending), then remove the last letter, an n, to get the stem. The verb staan (to stand) is conjugated like this:

    staan (to stand) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik staI standwe staanwe stand
    je staatyou standjullie staanyou stand
    hij staathe standsze staanthey stand

    What seems to be irregular is the first person conjugation ik sta. It looks as if a letter is missing, but it is typical to the Dutch language to write the aa sound as a at the end of a word (or at the end of a syllable). The pronunciation of a in sta, aa in staat and aa in staan is aa (a clear vowel).

    This way you can conjugate all other verbs having the aan ending, like bestaan (to exist), overslaan (to skip), verslaan (to defeat), gaan (to go), etc. By the way: some of them are compound verbs, like overslaan.

    overslaan (to skip) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik sla overI skipwe slaan overwe skip
    je slaat overyou skipjullie slaan overyou skip
    hij slaat overhe skipsze slaan overthey skip

    Simple Present - Irregular Verbs

    An irregular verb behaves unpredictable. All we can do is memorize the conjugations.

    Zijn is an irregular verb. We see words like ben, bent, is, etc.

    zijn (to be) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik benI am we zijnwe are
    je bentyou arejullie zijnyou are
    hij ishe isze zijnthey are

    Hebben is an irregular verb.

    Note that ik heb and je hebt have just one b (pronounced as p), which is a regular conjugation. Double b at the end of a word does not occur in Dutch.

    hebben (to have) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik hebI have we hebbenwe have
    je hebtyou havejullie hebbenyou have
    hij heefthe hasze hebbenthey have

    This is the verb zullen in the simple present tense. We will need it later on to make the simple future tense.

    zullen (shall, will) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik zalI willwe zullenwe will
    je zultyou willjullie zullenyou will
    hij zalhe willze zullenthey will

    Simple Past - Weak Verbs

    If you know a verb is weak, you can find out if that verb belongs to the T-class, or to the D-class. In the simple present this does not matter, but in the simple past it does matter.

    We take the verb botsen (to collide) as an example.

  • remove en. The crude stem remains: bots
  • The last letter of the crude stem matters: s.
  • If this letter is one of the following letters, we have a T-verb: f ch s t k p.
    So, botsen is a T-verb.

    The verb voelen (to feel) is a D-verb.

  • remove en. The crude stem remains: voel
  • The last letter of the crude stem matters: l.
  • If this letter is one of the following letters, we have a T-verb: f ch s t k p.
    So, voelen is a D-verb.

    If the crude stem of the verb ends with f ch s t k, or p, it is a T-verb. You can remember the six letters by memorizing this phrase:

    Four Chinese speakers train kind people.
    F - CH - S - T - K - P

    These are about the sharpest sounds in Dutch. Remember that ch is one sound in Dutch, and pronounced very sharp. The difference between whispering f-ch-s-t-k-p and saying it is not audible. Compare these sounds with: b, d, l, m, n, r, v, z. They have distinct sounds. They are soft and take the soft d-suffixes. The sharp g-sound is an exception, because it takes the soft d-suffixes anyway. A suffix is a series of letters to add to a word, like de, den, te, and ten.

    This is the pattern to use for T-verbs.

    Simple Past Pattern
    for weak verbs of the T-class
    infinitive - simple past
    singularplural
    ik stem + teI ... we stem + ten
    wij stem + ten
    we ...
    we ...
    je stem + te
    u stem + te
    you ...
    you ...
    jullie stem + tenyou ...
    hij stem + te
    ze stem + te
    zij stem + te
    het stem + te
    he ...
    she ...
    she ...
    it ...
    ze stem + ten
    zij stem + ten
    they ...
    they ...

    This is the pattern to use for D-verbs.

    Simple Past Pattern
    for weak verbs of the D-class
    infinitive - simple past
    singularplural
    ik stem + deI ... we stem + den
    wij stem + den
    we ...
    we ...
    je stem + de
    u stem + de
    you ...
    you ...
    jullie stem + denyou ...
    hij stem + de
    ze stem + de
    zij stem + de
    het stem + de
    he ...
    she ...
    she ...
    it ...
    ze stem + den
    zij stem + den
    they ...
    they ...

    Example verb:
    wachten (to wait) is a weak verb. What is “I waited” in Dutch?

  • Remove en to find the crude stem wacht.
  • Do we need to add t-suffixes or d-suffixes when using the verb? The sentence: “Four Chinese speakers train kind people” shows six letters that take t-suffixes: f, ch, s, t, k, and p.
  • Because t, the last letter of the crude stem, is one of them, the verb takes t-suffixes.
  • wacht is not only the crude stem, but also the stem, because no adaptations are needed.
  • We add te or ten to the stem wacht. In this case, we add te.
    Result: Ik wachtte

    Example verb:
    voelen (to feel) is a weak verb too. What is “I felt” in Dutch?

  • Remove en to find the crude stem voel.
  • We look at the last letter of the stem voel, which is an l.
  • An l is not one of the sounds mentioned in: “Four Chinese speakers train kind people.”
  • So, the stem voel takes the d-suffixes.
  • voel is not only the crude stem, but also the stem, because no adaptations are needed.
  • We add de or den to the stem voel. In this case, we add de.
    Result: Ik voelde

    The table of wachten is shown right here. Look at the syllables that are added to wacht. These syllables are te and ten.

    wachten (to wait) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik wachtteI waitedwe wachttenwe waited
    je wachtteyou waitedjullie wachttenyou waited
    hij wachttehe waitedze wachttenthey waited

    Let’s look again at the past tense of the verb voelen (to feel). Make the crude stem voel by removing en. Watch the last letter of the crude stem voel. It is an l. After an l we add suffixes to voel like de or den. The table is shown here.

    voelen (to feel) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik voeldeI feltwe voeldenwe felt
    je voeldeyou feltjullie voeldenyou felt
    hij voeldehe feltze voeldenthey felt

    Verbs that are borrowed from foreign languages are sometimes spelled in such a way that this method can’t work.
    racen (to race) is a verb like that. A decision was made that racen is a T-verb. The reason is this. If racen would have been a verb of Dutch origin, it would have been spelled this way: resen. And the s of the (non existing) verb resen makes it a T-verb. Here you can see that the sound matters, and not just the written character.

    racen (to race) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik raceteI racedwe racetenwe raced
    je raceteyou racedjullie racetenyou raced
    hij racetehe racedze racetenthey raced

    Example verb:
    vieren is a weak verb.

    The dictionary shows:
    to celebrate (verb) vieren, vierde, gevierd.
    The word vierde is the past tense. You can make the table right away. Just use the pattern.

    vieren (to celebrate) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik vierdeI celebratedwe vierdenwe celebrated
    je vierdeyou celebratedjullie vierdenyou celebrated
    hij vierdehe celebratedze vierdenthey celebrated


    In the paragraph of the simple present tense four rules are listed concerning spelling adaptations. These rules apply in the simple past in the singular and in the plural. In this case rule 4 is applied to preserve the pronunciation of the vowel.

    horen (to hear) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik hoordeI heardwe hoordenwe heard
    je hoordeyou heardjullie hoordenyou heard
    hij hoordehe heardze hoordenthey heard


    Here rule 4 is applied too. Read the Spelling Summary to learn more about stem changes.

    maken (to make) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik maakteI madewe maaktenwe made
    je maakteyou madejullie maaktenyou made
    hij maaktehe madeze maaktenthey made


    Simple Past - Strong Verbs


    In the past tense, the vowel changes we talked about earlier can occur too.
    Examples:
    we bleven, ik bleef - we stayed, I stayed
    we deden, ik deed - we did, I did
    An exception is:
    we kwamen, ik kwam - we came, I came
    The vowel changes are not needed when the pronunciation is preserved:
    we zongen, ik zong - we sang, I sang

    The infinitive of a verb, like zingen, does not show you if a verb is strong or not. When you know the verb is strong, you also need to know which vowel change must be made. When you know that, you can make the table right away.

    The dictionary shows:
    to sing (verb) zingen, zong, gezongen.
    The word zong is the past tense. Just add en in the plural.
    The vowel change of this strong verb is from i to o.

    zingen (to sing) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik zongI sangwe zongenwe sang
    je zongyou sangjullie zongenyou sang
    hij zonghe sangze zongenthey sang


    The next example shows the effect of stem adaptations in the past tense of strong verbs.

    When you read in the dictionary: to understand (verb) begrijpen, begreep, begrepen
    then you can conclude that the table of the past tense of this verb is like this:

    begrijpen (to understand) - simple past
    singular
    ik begreepI understood
    je begreepyou understood
    hij begreephe understood
    plural
    we begrepenwe understood
    jullie begrepenyou understood
    ze begrepenthey understood

    The vowel e in the bold syllable of begrepen is pronounced the same as ee in the bold syllable of begreep. As already said, this adaptation (to preserve the right pronunciation of a vowel) only occurs when vowels like a, e, o, or u are involved.


    Simple Past - Irregular Verbs

    An irregular verb behaves unpredictable. All we can do is memorize the conjugations.

    hebben is an irregular verb. In the past tense we get:

    hebben (to have) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik hadI had we haddenwe had
    je hadyou hadjullie haddenyou had
    hij hadhe hadze haddenthey had

    zijn is an irregular verb. In the past tense we get:

    zijn (to be) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik wasI was we warenwe were
    je wasyou wasjullie warenyou were
    hij washe wasze warenthey were

    This is the verb zullen in the simple past tense.

    zullen (shall, will) - simple past
    singularplural
    ik zouI wouldwe zoudenwe would
    je zouyou wouldjullie zoudenyou would
    hij zouhe wouldze zoudenthey would


    The Past Participle

    Almost every verb has a past participle. There is one (maybe two) per verb.

    For example, the dictionary shows:
    to celebrate (verb) vieren, vierde, gevierd.

    The word gevierd is the past participle.

    In the following example, geweest is the past participle. The past participle is in bold font.
    Ik ben. Ik was. Ik ben geweest. - I am. I was. I have been.

    More than often the past participle begins with ge.
    Ik voel. Ik voelde. Ik heb gevoeld. - I feel. I felt. I have felt.
    Ik zing. Ik zong. Ik heb gezongen. - I sing. I sang. I have sung.
    Ik pak. Ik pakte. Ik heb gepakt. - I grab. I grabbed. I have grabbed.

    In Dutch, the following past participles occur:

  • past participles of T-verbs (which are weak verbs) have a t-ending.
  • past participles of D-verbs (which are weak verbs) have a d-ending.
  • past participles of strong verbs have an en-ending.
  • past participles of some irregular verbs have an unpredictable form.

    If the stem of the verb ends with f ch s t k, or p, it is a T-verb. You can remember the six letters by memorizing this phrase:

    Four Chinese speakers train kind people.
    F - CH - S - T - K - P

    Weak Verbs
    If you know a verb is weak, you can find out what the past participle is.

  • make the crude stem of the verb by removing en.
  • Look at the last letter of the crude stem.
  • The sentence: “Four Chinese speakers train kind people” shows six letters that take t-suffixes: f, ch, s, t, k, and p.
  • If the last letter of the crude stem is one of them, it must be a T-verb. The past participle will be: ge + stem + t.
  • Otherwise, it is a D-verb. Then the past participle will be: ge + stem + d.
  • Note: If a double t ending occurs, remove one t.

    The least complicated past participles have three components:

  • ge
  • the stem of the verb
  • the ending of the verb, which is t or d for weak verbs.

    Examples:
    The past participle of voelen (to feel) is made like this: ge + voel + d.
    The letter l is responsible for this.
    The past participle is: gevoeld.
    In a sentence: Ik heb gevoeld. - I have felt.

    The past participle of schaatsen (to skate) is made like this: ge + schaats + t.
    The letter s is responsible for this. It is part of: “Four Chinese speakers train kind people”
    The past participle is: geschaatst.
    In a sentence: Ik heb geschaatst. - I have skated.


    Sometimes ge is not there, because another prefix takes its place.
    Ik heb verloren. - I have lost.
    Ik heb haar iets beloofd. - I have promised her something.
    These past participles have three components:

  • inseparable prefix
  • the stem of the verb, when it is a weak verb
  • the ending of the verb, which is t or d for weak verbs.


    When the verb has a separable prefix, we add that prefix to the past participle.
    Ik ben weggeschaatst. - I have skated away.
    Ik ben aangekomen. - I have arrived.
    These past participles have four components:

  • separable prefix
  • ge
  • the stem of the verb
  • the ending of the verb, which is t or d for weak verbs.

    Strong Verbs
    If a verb is strong, the past participle is not built using the stem of the verb. It looks as if the stem is used, but it is not. Very often, you see another vowel in the middle of the word. The ending is en.

    Examples:
    The dictionary shows: to sing (verb) zingen, zong, gezongen.
    The past participle is gezongen.
    The dictionary shows: to carry (verb) dragen, droeg, gedragen.
    The past participle is gedragen.
    The dictionary shows: to walk (verb) lopen, liep, gelopen.
    The past participle is gelopen.

    Past participles in English
    Let’s compare this to English, where the past participle is made by taking the stem and adding ed to it.
    Example: “I have walked.”
    Irregular and strong verbs occur.
    Example: “I have built.”

    Past participles as adjectives
    Past participles can be used as adjectives. Adjectives make a text more compact, but using too many of them makes a text less readable.
    het gezongen lied - the song that was sung
    de verloren sleutel - the lost key
    The past participle geweest of the verb zijn (to be) cannot be used like this. It has to be adapted to gewezen.
    de gewezen burgemeester - the former burgomaster
    When a past participle is weak, its adjective is made according to the rules for making adjectives. An extra e is added in these two cases.
    de gegooide bal - the thrown ball
    de gebruikte mixer. - the used mixer.

    Spelling Problem Weak Past Participles: d or t

    A d and a t both sound like t at the end of a Dutch word. Therefore native speakers sometimes spell weak past participles incorrectly. They have no problems spelling strong past participles because of their en-ending.

    Native speakers and people who are familiar with spoken Dutch, can find out the spelling of a (weak) past participle as follows. When a past participle is used as an adjective, the difference between d and t suddenly becomes audible, if you make a suitable test-sentence.

    The d in gegooide sounds like a d, and reveals the correct spelling of gegooid.
    Ik heb de bal gegooid. - I have thrown the ball.
    de gegooide bal - the thrown ball

    The t in gebruikte sounds like a t, and reveals the correct spelling of gebruikt.
    Ik heb een mixer gebruikt. - I have used a mixer.
    de gebruikte mixer. - the used mixer.

    This method is slightly faster than using “Four Chinese Speakers Train Kind People” or its Dutch equivalent, the well known phrase: ’t kofschip.

    Present Perfect

    To make the present perfect, you need to know:

  • the present tense of zijn (to be), hebben (to have), or worden (to become).
  • the past participle of the verb of your choice.
    The past participle of weak verbs starts with ge, and ends with a t or a d.
    The past participle of strong verbs starts with ge, and ends with en.

    Let’s try to do something complicated. The verb wachten is weak. What is “We have waited.” in Dutch?

    We need:

  • The present tense of the verb hebben (to have)
  • The past participle of the verb wachten (to wait)

    We must make the past participle gewacht. (Because the word wacht does not need any adaptations, we just ignore the difference between the crude stem and the stem here.)

  • wachten is the verb we talk about. Let’s start there.
  • We remove en to find the (crude) stem wacht.
  • t is the last letter of the stem wacht.
  • The sentence: “Four Chinese speakers train kind people” shows six letters: f, ch, s, t, k, and p. If a stem ends with one of them, we must add a t.
  • The last letter of the stem wacht is t. That is one of the six letters. Therefore verb wachten takes t-suffixes. This means that you can never add a syllable to wacht with a d in it, when you conjugate the verb.
  • We make ge + wacht + t. A tt (double t) ending is not allowed. The result is gewacht.

    We can find the past participle gewacht in a dictionary too.

  • look up to wait
  • You find: wachten, wachtte, gewacht
  • The first word wachten is the verb (the infinitive of the verb).
  • The second word wachtte is the past tense (of the person I (ik)).
  • The third word gewacht is the past participle.

    Now we need the table of hebben - simple present. You can find the table in the chapter about the simple present.
    The present perfect of wachten shown below, is based on the table of the simple present of hebben. The only difference is, that the word gewacht (waited) is added everywhere.

    wachten (to wait) - present perfect
    singularplural
    ik heb gewachtI have waitedwe hebben gewachtwe have waited
    je hebt gewachtyou have waitedjullie hebben gewachtyou have waited
    hij heeft gewachthe has waitedze hebben gewachtthey have waited

    The translation of “We have waited.” can be found in this table. The result is “We hebben gewacht.”

    Past Perfect

    To make the past perfect, you need to know:

  • the past tense of zijn (to be), hebben (to have), or worden (to become).
  • the past participle of the verb of your choice.

    Let’s try to translate “She had waited.” into Dutch.

    We need:

  • The past tense of the verb hebben (to have)
  • The past participle of the verb wachten (to wait)

    We must make the past participle gewacht. The previous paragraph explains how.

    Then we need the table of hebben - simple past. You can find the table in the chapter about the simple past.
    The past perfect of wachten shown below, is based on the table of the simple past of hebben. Write down that table and add the word gewacht in every record.

    wachten (to wait) - past perfect
    singularplural
    ik had gewachtI had waitedwe hadden gewachtwe had waited
    je had gewachtyou had waitedjullie hadden gewachtyou had waited
    hij had gewachthe had waitedze hadden gewachtthey had waited

    The translation of “He had waited.” can be found in this table: “Hij had gewacht.” She conjugates the same as he. The result is “Ze had gewacht.”

    Auxiliary verbs

    An auxiliary verb assists another verb in a sentence. The use of zijn (to be) and hebben (to have) is shown here.
    Ik ben gevonden. - I am found.
    Ik heb het gevonden. - I have found it.

    These two auxiliary verbs are called static verbs. We have a dynamic verb also: worden (to become). It describes a process, or a change in a situation.
    Ik word gedragen tot ik ergens kan zitten. - I am carried, until I can sit down somewhere.

    When verbs like to be are used as auxiliary verbs, they loose their original meaning. English and Dutch both have auxiliary verbs like this.

    Simple Future

    To make the simple future tense you need to know:

  • The verb zullen (shall, will) in the present tense.
  • The infinitive of the verb you need, like vinden (to find) or lopen (to walk). This infinitive is found in the dictionary.

    The verb zullen in the present tense is found in the chapter about the simple present tense.

    If you want to make a table of the simple future of vinden, then write down the simple present of zullen first. When you have done that, add the verb vinden to every sentence. This is the result:

    vinden (to find) - simple future
    singularplural
    ik zal vindenI will findwe zullen vindenwe will find
    je zult vindenyou will findjullie zullen vindenyou will find
    hij zal vindenhe will findze zullen vindenthey will find

    The simple future tense of the verb hebben (to have) is made the same way.

    hebben (to have) - simple future
    singularplural
    ik zal hebbenI will havewe zullen hebbenwe will have
    je zult hebbenyou will havejullie zullen hebbenyou will have
    hij zal hebbenhe will haveze zullen hebbenthey will have

    This is simple future tense of the verb zijn (to be).

    zijn (to be) - simple future
    singularplural
    ik zal zijnI will bewe zullen zijnwe will be
    je zult zijnyou will bejullie zullen zijnyou will be
    hij zal zijnhe will beze zullen zijnthey will be

    This is simple future tense of the verb worden (to become). It is made by replacing zijn by worden throughout the table.

    worden (to become) - simple future
    singularplural
    ik zal wordenI will becomewe zullen wordenwe will become
    je zult wordenyou will becomejullie zullen wordenyou will become
    hij zal wordenhe will becomeze zullen wordenthey will become



    Future Perfect

    The previous paragraph shows the simple future of the verbs zijn (to be), hebben (to have) and worden (to become). The future perfect is built on one of them.

    To make the future perfect, you need to know:

  • the simple future of zijn (to be), hebben (to have) or worden (to become).
  • the past participle of the verb of you choice.

    In this example, we will translate into Dutch: “I will have waited.”

  • “I will have” is found in the previous paragraph: Ik zal hebben.
  • Look up “to wait” in the dictionary: wachten is found.
  • We remove the en-ending of the verb. (Because the word wacht does not need any adaptations, we just ignore the difference between the crude stem and the stem here.)
  • t is the last letter of the stem. This letter is part of the sentence: Four Chinese Speakers Train Kind People. (We look at the sounds F CH S T K P only.) So, the verb wachten has t-suffixes.
  • The past participle is made by joining ge, wacht, and t. A tt-ending is not allowed. We get: gewacht.
  • Result: Ik zal hebben gewacht.

    If you want to make a table of the future perfect of wachten, then write down the simple future of hebben first. When you have done that, add the word gewacht to every sentence. This is the result:

    wachten (to wait) - future perfect
    singularplural
    ik zal hebben gewachtI will have waitedwe zullen hebben gewachtwe will have waited
    je zult hebben gewachtyou will have waitedjullie zullen hebben gewachtyou will have waited
    hij zal hebben gewachthe will have waitedze zullen hebben gewachtthey will have waited



    Conditional

    To make the conditional you need to know:

  • The verb zullen (shall, will) in the past tense.
  • The infinitive of the verb you need, like vinden (to find) or lopen (to walk). This infinitive is found in the dictionary.

    The verb zullen in the simple past tense is found in the chapter about the simple past tense.

    If you want to make a table of the conditional mood of vinden, then write down the simple past of zullen first. When you have done that, add the verb vinden to every sentence. This is the result:

    vinden (to find) - conditional mood
    singularplural
    ik zou vindenI would findwe zouden vindenwe would find
    je zou vindenyou would findjullie zouden vindenyou would find
    hij zou vindenhe would findze zouden vindenthey would find

    The verb hebben (to have) is in the conditional:

    hebben (to have) - conditional mood
    singularplural
    ik zou hebbenI would havewe zouden hebbenwe would have
    je zou hebbenyou would havejullie zouden hebbenyou would have
    hij zou hebbenhe would haveze zouden hebbenthey would have

    The verb zijn (to be) is in the conditional:

    zijn (to be) - conditional mood
    singularplural
    ik zou zijnI would have beenwe zouden zijnwe would have been
    je zou zijnyou would have beenjullie zouden zijnyou would have been
    hij zou zijnhe would have beenze zouden zijnthey would have been

    The verb worden (to become) is in the conditional:

    worden (to become) - conditional mood
    singularplural
    ik zou wordenI would have becomewe zouden wordenwe would have become
    je zou wordenyou would have becomejullie zouden wordenyou would have become
    hij zou wordenhe would have becomeze zouden wordenthey would have become


    Conditional Perfect

    If an action would have been completed in the past, when certain conditions would have been met, we use the conditional mood and the perfect tense.

    To make the conditional perfect you need to know:

  • the verbs zijn (to be), hebben (to have) or worden (to become) in the conditional.
  • The past participle of the verb you need.

    In this example, we will translate into Dutch: “They would have waited.”

  • “They would have” is found in the previous paragraph: Ze zouden hebben.
  • The past participle is gewacht.
  • Result: Ze zouden hebben gewacht.

    The verb wachten in the conditional perfect is shown below. It is based on the verb hebben (to have) in the conditional mood.

    wachten (to wait) - conditional perfect
    singularplural
    ik zou hebben gewachtI would have waitedwe zouden hebben gewachtwe would have waited
    je zou hebben gewachtyou would have waitedjullie zouden hebben gewachtyou would have waited
    hij zou hebben gewachthe would have waitedze zouden hebben gewachtthey would have waited


    The Infinitive

    The infinitive of a verb is the word you look up in a dictionary, when you search for a verb.

    The verb zullen (shall, will) is followed by an infinitive, not by a past participle. The infinitive in this example is komen.
    We zullen komen. - We will come.
    Ik zal komen. - I will come.

    Another example is the conditional mood.
    We zouden komen. - We would come.
    Ik zou komen. - I would come.

    Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive, just like the verb zullen.
    Ik kan komen. - I can come.
    Ik mag komen. - I am allowed to come.

    The word te (to) has to be added sometimes when using an infinitive.
    Ik probeer te komen. - I try to come.
    Ik vergeet te komen. - I forget to come.

    Infinitives must replace past participles in some cases

    Sometimes a past participle is replaced by an infinitive, when an extra verb is added to the sentence. The next two sentences show that gegaan (a past participle) is replaced by gaan (an infinitive) when an extra infinitive is added to the sentence. You cannot add werken (to work) to the first sentence without making the adaptations you see here.
    Hij is gegaan. - He went.
    Hij is gaan werken. - He went to work.
    Another example of this is:
    Hij heeft daar gestaan. - He stood there.
    Hij heeft daar staan kijken. - He stood there watching.

    Infinitives as nouns

    You can use a verb as a noun. Look up the infinitive in the dictionary and place an article in front of it. The article to use for infinitives is always het (the).
    het maken van een website - the making of a website
    het sturen van een e-mail - the sending of a email
    Het schoonmaken van de kamer heeft een uur geduurd. - The cleaning of the room took an hour.

    But the word het often means it, even when followed by an infinitive. The infinitives are not used as nouns in the examples below.
    Ik ga het maken. - I am going to construct it.
    Ik ga het schoonmaken. - I am going to clean it.

    There is another way to make nouns out of verbs. These nouns look like past participles, but they are not. Take the conjugation of I (first person, present tense), and add a prefix: ge. Very often, this kind of words are interpreted as a complaint about something. Not many verbs are used like this.
    het geblaf van de honden - the barking of the dogs
    het geklaag - the complaints
    Dat geschreeuw is vervelend als je aan het studeren bent. - Those shouts are annoying when you are studying.

    Modal Verbs

    A modal verb changes or modifies the meaning of the infinitive it precedes. An infinitive is a word you look up in a dictionary, when searching for a verb. Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive, not by a past participle. They are used like zullen (shall, will), so they are used like this:
    Ik zal komen. - I will come.

    Just replace zullen by one of the modal verbs you see below. The infinitive we use as an example is komen (to come).
    Ik kan komen. - I can come.
    Ik mag komen. - I am allowed to come.
    Ik moet komen. - I must come.
    Ik wil komen. - I want to come.

    You can also replace hij zal (he will) by hij zou kunnen (he might).
    Hij zal komen. - He will come.
    Hij zou kunnen komen. - He might come.

    The verb gaan (to go) is often used instead of zullen.
    Ik ga schoonmaken. - I am going to clean up.

    When you look at the English translations of the previous sentences, you will see that the word to is used sometimes. The Dutch equivalent is te. The following verbs use te, when followed by an infinitive. They are not followed by a past participle.
    Ik probeer te komen. - I try to come.
    Ik vergeet te komen. - I forget to come.
    Ik durf te komen. - I dare to come.
    Ik hoor te komen. - I ought to come.
    Zij lijkt te begrijpen wat hij zei. - She seems to understand what he said.
    Hij blijkt te werken. - It became evident that he is working.

    The verb hoeven (need) is peculiar. It is used in negations only, unless the word maar (an untranslated word in this case) is involved. This means that the sentence must include maar or a negative word like niet (not), geen (no), or nooit (never).
    Hij hoeft niet te werken als hij ziek is. - He doesn’t need to work if he is ill.
    Je hoeft geen e-mailadres te hebben. - You don’t need to have an email address.
    Dat hoef je maar één keer te doen. - You need to do this only once.

    Present Participle

    The present participle is used when two actions take place at the same time. To make a present participle, take the infinitive of the verb and add d to it. For example, zingend is the present participle of the verb zingen (to sing).

    Examples:
    Ze liep zingend naar huis. - She walked home (while) singing.
    Hij liep hard pratend door. - He walked on (while) talking loud.
    Hij trok zijn schoenen zittend uit. - He took of his shoes while sitting.
    ‘Wat een leuke verrassing,’ zei ze glimlachend. - ‘What a nice surprise,’ she said, smiling.

    The suffix de can be added instead of d, but this isn’t done very often.
    Moeder zijnde, maak ik me daar zorgen om. - Being a mother, this worries me.
    More common are:
    Als moeder maak ik me daar zorgen om. - Being a mother, this worries me.
    Omdat ik moeder ben, maak ik me daar zorgen om. - Because I am a mother, this worries me.

    Present participles are often used as adjectives.
    de schaatsende vrouwen - the skating women
    het smeltende ijs - the melting ice
    het verliezende team - the losing team
    een hinnikend paard - a neighing horse

    Compound Verbs

    There are two kinds of compound verbs.

  • compound verbs with an inseparable prefix
  • compound verbs with a separable prefix

    Compound Verbs with an Inseparable Prefix

    The verb voorkomen (to prevent) has a prefix. This prefix is voor, which means in front of.
    To make the present tense of voorkomen you need to:

  • know the verb komen (to come)
  • know if voorkomen is separable or not.
    The verb is not separable when it means to prevent.

    komen (to come) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik komI comewe komenwe come
    je komtyou comejullie komenyou come
    hij komthe comesze komenthey come

    voorkomen (to prevent) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik voorkomI preventwe voorkomenwe prevent
    je voorkomtyou preventjullie voorkomenyou prevent
    hij voorkomthe preventsze voorkomenthey prevent

    You see want happens. The verb gets a prefix everywhere. In the simple past tense, it works the same way.
    Ik kwam. - I came.
    Ik voorkwam. - I prevented.

    The past participle of voorkomen is made this way:

  • take the past participle of komen, which is gekomen
  • remove ge
  • add voor
    The result is: voorkomen
    Use it in a sentence this way:
    Ik heb voorkomen dat het gras gemaaid werd. - I have prevented that the lawn was mown.
    Hij heeft het voorkomen. - He has prevented it.

    This method you read about applies to inseparable compound verbs only.

    Dictionary example:
    The dictionary shows: to sell (verb) verkopen, verkocht, heb verkocht.
    The past participle is verkocht.

    Compound Verbs with a Separable Prefix

    When a compound verb has a separable prefix, this prefix can wander around in a sentence.

    The verb aankomen (to arrive) has a prefix. This prefix is aan, which means at.
    To make the present tense of aankomen you need to:

  • know the verb komen (to come)
  • know if aankomen is separable or not.
    The verb is separable.

    komen (to come) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik komI comewe komenwe come
    je komtyou comejullie komenyou come
    hij komthe comesze komenthey come

    aankomen (to arrive) - simple present
    singularplural
    ik kom aanI arrivewe komen aanwe arrive
    je komt aanyou arrivejullie komen aanyou arrive
    hij komt aanhe arrivesze komen aanthey arrive

    You see the prefix is separated from the verb. In the past tense we get:
    Ik kwam. - I came.
    Ik kwam aan. - I arrived.

    The past participle of aankomen is made this way:

  • take the past participle of komen, which is gekomen
  • add aan
    The result is: aangekomen
    Use it in a sentence this way:
    Ik ben aangekomen. - I have arrived.
    Hij is ook aangekomen. - He has arrived too.

    The following examples show that the (separable) prefix tends to move to the end of the sentence.
    Ik kom aan. - I arrive.
    Ik kom morgen aan. - I will arrive tomorrow.
    Ik kwam aan. - I arrived.
    Ik kwam gisteren aan. - I arrived yesterday.
    Ik kwam gisteren met de bus aan. - I arrived by bus yesterday.

    Past participles behave the same. They move to the end of a sentence. The past participles of compound verbs are no exception to this.
    Ik ben aangekomen. - I have arrived.
    Ik ben gisteren met de bus aangekomen. - I have arrived by bus yesterday.
    Ik ben voor de andere bezoekers aangekomen. - I have arrived before the other visitors.

    It is remarkable that the verb voorkomen (to occur) exists in Dutch, because it looks like voorkomen (to prevent), which is another verb. The verb voorkomen (to occur) is separable, but voorkomen (to prevent) is inseparable. In the next two sentences the stressed syllables of the verbs are underlined. When (a syllable of) the prefix is stressed, the verb is separable.
    Het zal voorkomen. - It will occur.
    Het zal voorkomen. - It will prevent.

    More forms of voorkomen (to occur) are:
    Het komt voor. - It occurs.
    Het kwam voor. - It occurred.
    Ze kwamen voor. - They occurred.
    Sneeuwstormen kwamen vroeger meer voor. - Snow storms occurred more often in the past.

    Remark: An extra complexity occurs in compound sentences. The next sentences are included only to show that separable verbs are not separated in every case. Pay attention to the bold words in these sentences to get the point.
    Je weet in welke steden dat probleem voorkomt. Dat probleem komt hier ook voor. - You know in what cities that problem occurs. That problem occurs here too.
    Je weet op welke dag ze aankomt. Ze komt morgen aan. - You know on which day she will arrive. She will arrive tomorrow.
    This additional complexity is caused by the typical word order of Dutch clauses (subsentences). Of course, inseparable verbs remain inseparable, which is shown in the following examples.
    Je weet welk probleem hij voorkomt. Hij voorkomt fraude. - You know which problem he prevents. He prevents fraud.
    Je weet welk probleem hij beschrijft. Hij beschrijft fraude. - You know which problem he discribes. He discribes fraud.

    To get used to prefixes, we will look at a small list of compound verbs. The stressed syllables are underlined. All these ten verbs are separable verbs.
    tegenkomen - to meet
    doorgeven - to pass on
    teruggeven - to give back
    opgeven - to give up
    verspringen - to jump in a long jump competition
    voorstellen - to introduce, to suggest
    nadenken - to think for a while
    uitleggen - to explain
    terugkomen - to come back, to return
    meenemen - to take with you

    Example phrases:
    Ik kom terug. - I will come back.
    Ik ben teruggekomen. - I came back.

    If ge is added to the infinitive when making the past participle (like uitgelegd) of a compound verb, it is always a separable verb. We cannot know if a compound verb is separable or not, if we only know the infinitive (like uitleggen).

    Dictionary example:
    The dictionary shows: to explain (verb) uitleggen, legde uit, heb uitgelegd.
    The past participle is uitgelegd.

    Verb Prefixes

    Sometimes the prefix of the past participle is not ge. This is the case when a verb (the infinitive itself) begins with ver, be, ont, her or another prefix.

    Inseparable Verbs without ge in the Past Participle

    The following verbs do not have a ge in the past participle. Some of them are compound verbs, like verkopen (to sell), which is derived from kopen (to buy).

    Note: The second syllable of every verb in this list is stressed.

    vertellen - to tell
    veranderen - to change
    vertrekken - to depart
    beginnen - to begin
    verkopen - to sell
    vergeven - to forgive
    begrijpen - to understand
    verlaten - to leave
    betalen - to pay
    vertrouwen - to trust
    ontmoeten - to meet
    herinneren - to remember
    verlangen - to desire
    verliezen - to loose
    bezoeken - to visit
    bereiken - to reach
    beschermen - to protect
    verdienen - to earn, to deserve
    ontbijten - to have breakfast
    beloven - to promise
    herkennen - to recognize

    Example sentences:
    Ik herken jou. - I recognize you.
    Ik heb jou herkend. - I have recognized you.

    Inseparable Verbs starting with ge

    Verbs without any prefix occur when ge is already part of the verb. These verbs even have a ge in the simple present and simple past. This is because ge is part of the verb.
    gebeuren - to happen
    geloven - to believe
    genezen - to recover, to heal
    gebruiken - to use
    gehoorzamen - to obey
    genieten - to enjoy

    Example sentences:
    Ik gebruik blauwe verf. - I use blue paint.
    Hij gebruikt blauwe verf. - He uses blue paint.

    In fact, the past participles of these verbs are irregular, because no ge was added to these verbs to make the past participles. In the next example, the past participle is in bold font. The t-ending is not influenced by what happens in front.
    Hij heeft blauwe verf gebruikt. - He has used blue paint.

    Spelling Problem Present Tense: word or wordt

    Because word and wordt are pronounced exactly the same, these words are sometimes spelled incorrectly by native speakers. The conjugation table of worden is shown below.

    worden (to become)
     presentpast
    Iik wordik werd
    youje wordtje werd
    hehij wordthij werd
    wewe wordenwe werden
    youjullie wordenjullie werden
    theyze wordenze werden

    The verbs houden (to keep), rijden (to drive) and vinden (to find) cause the same problems.

    Spel je “vind je” met dt? - Do you spell “vind je” with dt?
    Nee, want “vind” staat voor “je”. - No, because “vind” is before “je”.

    If you are a native speaker or if you use the verb lopen (to walk) very often in spoken language, this dt-test will work: Replace the difficult verb by lopen only to test if you hear the letter t then. If you hear the letter t then, it’s there.

    Word je morgen vijftig? - Are you becoming fifty tomorrow?
    Loop je? - Are you walking?

    Conjugation of Leven

    In this paragraph, the conjugation of the verb leven in the present tense is found.

    Present Tense

    First person singular ik (I).

  • leven (to live)
  • crude stem: lev
  • remove v and add f.
  • The e in lef is not pronounced like the first e in leven. That is not correct, so we must adapt the crude stem by changing the e into ee
  • The result is: leef. We call it the stem.

    Second person singular. To make the present tense conjugation for je (you) and jij (you)

  • Take the stem you found when conjugating for ik (I).
  • If the person (je or jij) precedes the verb, add the letter t to the verb.
  • If the person (je or jij) follows the verb, don’t add anything.
  • The result is: leef je or je leeft

    Third person singular. To make the present tense conjugation for u (you), hij (he), ze (she), zij (she) and het (it)

  • Take the stem you found when conjugating for ik (I).
  • Add the letter t to the verb.
  • The result is: leeft

    First, second and third person plural. To make the present tense conjugation for plural persons

  • take the infinitive and use it.
  • The result is: leven

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