For purposes of conjugation Dutch verbs can be divided into regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs follow a certain pattern in the way they are conjugated, and irregular verbs do not follow a pattern at all. The group of regular verbs is the largest, and this group can be divided further into weak verbs and strong verbs.
The conjugation of a new verb (e.g. a verb borrowed from English) normally follows the rules of Dutch.
Weak verbs
This is the most regular type of verb. The rules for forming the present tense, the imperfect and the past participle of the perfect tense are the same. Examples of weak verbs are wonen, bellen, fietsen and koken.
infinitive
stem
imperfect (singular, plural)
past participle
type
wonen
woon
woonde, woonden
gewoond
weak
to live
bellen
bel
belde, belden
gebeld
weak
to ring
fietsen
fiets
fietste, fietsten
gefietst
weak
to cycle
koken
kook
kookte, kookten
gekookt
weak
to cook
The imperfect tense of the weak regular verbs is formed by adding a suffix to the stem of the verb. This takes either the form -de (plural -den) or the form -te (plural -ten), depending on the last sound of the stem. The rule that determines the choice between -de(n) or -te(n) is the same rule that is applied to determine the ending of the past participle of the (weak) perfect tense:
form
rule
examples
stem + te(n) and past participle ending in -t
if stem ends in a consonant from
SoFT KeTCHuP
fietsen, koken
stem + de(n) and past participle ending in -d
in all other cases
wonen, bellen
Strong verbs
These are also regular, but their regularity works in quite a different way. The patterns that occur in strong verbs have to do with vowel changes in the past tense and/or with the ending of the past participle. Examples of strong verbs are kijken, blijven, zwijgen, winnen, vinden and zingen. The past tenses of strong regular verbs also have a pattern, but these patterns have to be learnt.
infinitive
stem
imperfect (singular, plural)
past participle
type
kijken
kijk
keek, keken
gekeken
strong
to look
blijven
blijf
bleef, bleven
gebleven
strong
to stay
zwijgen
zwijg
zweeg, zwegen
gezwegen
strong
to be silent
winnen
win
won, wonnen
gewonnen
strong
to win
vinden
vind
vond, vonden
gevonden
strong
to find
zingen
zing
zong, zongen
gezongen
strong
to sing
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs do not follow a pattern and therefore must be learnt. Most auxiliary verbs are irregular. The most common irregular verbs are:
infinitive
imperfect (singular, plural)
past participle
zijn
was, waren
geweest
to be
hebben
had, hadden
gehad
to have
kunnen
kon, konden
gekund
can
mogen
mocht, mochten
gemogen
may
moeten
moest, moesten
gemoeten
must
kopen
bleef, bleven
gebleven
to stay
gaan
ging, gingen
gegaan
to go
doen
deed, deden
gedaan
to do
komen
kwam, kwamen
gekomen
to come
Conjugation of new verbs
Verbs are regulary borrowed from other languages when the Dutch equivalent may not (be considered to) be adequate, or when there is no Dutch equivalent. Examples are checken (‘to check’) and skaten (‘to roller blade’).
Occasionally, verbs are also ‘invented’ to fill a gap in the lexicon. An example of this is the late 1990s verb montignaccen: to follow a diet designed by a person called Montignac.
We fitnessen ons te pletter, eten minder vlees en meer tofoe, stoppen met roken (of maken plannen in die richting), montignaccen, en richten ons huis in volgens de laatste Feng Shui-principes.
We do fitness like mad, eat less meat and more tofu, stop smoking (or make plans in that direction), follow a diet, and furnish our house according to the latest Feng Shui principles.
Whenever verbs have been successfully adopted by the Dutch language, they are also adapted: they follow the same rules for verb formation as ‘normal’ Dutch verbs. The past tenses of these imported verbs are formed in the same way as weak Dutch verbs.
So, to give the conjugation of just two verbs:
faxen
skaten
ik
fax – faxte – heb gefaxt
skate – skatete – heb geskatet
jij
faxt – faxte – hebt gefaxt
skatet – skatete – hebt geskatet
u
faxt – faxte – hebt gefaxt
skate – skatete – heeft geskatet
hij/zij
faxt – faxte – hebt gefaxt
skate – skatete – hebt geskatet
wij
faxen – faxten – hebben gefaxt
skaten – skateten – hebben geskatet
jullie
faxen – faxten – hebben gefaxt
skaten – skateten – hebben geskatet
u
faxt – faxte – hebt/heeft gefaxt
skate – skatete – hebt/heeft geskatet
zij
faxen – faxten – hebben gefaxt
skaten – skateten – hebben geskatet
The pronunciation of such verbs is adapted to the Dutch pronunciation: ik /ske:t/; ik /ske:t?/; ik heb /geske:t/.
The following example shows how some originally English verbs have been adapted by the Dutch system for verb formation:
Op het clipboard kunnen records uit verschillende zoekacties (tijdelijk) worden bewaard om van daaruit te worden geprint, gesaved en/of geëmaild.
Records from various searches can be saved (temporarily) on the clipboard in order to be printed, saved and/or emailed from there.
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