In the perfect tenses, an auxiliary verb ('to have' in English,
in Dutch hebben
‑>>
or
zijn
‑>>)
is combined with a past participle
- (het) voltooid deelwoord
The Dutch past participle usually has a
GE‑
prefix and for most 'strong' verbs an
‑EN or ‑N
ending; almost all 't kofschip
'weak' verbs add a ‑T
ending to the verb stem, and non-'t
kofschip
weak verbs a ‑D ending. For example:
zien
 | to see |
ik heb gezien
 |
I have seen |
horen
2 |
to hear |
ik heb gehoord
 |
I have heard |
Most of the Dutch verbs use the simple tenses of
hebben
‑>>
'to have' combined with a past participle for the perfect tenses,
like in English, but about 20 common Dutch verbs use
the simple tenses of
zijn
‑>>
(otherwise translated as 'to be') as the auxiliary verb for the perfect
tenses, for instance:
gaan
 | to go |
ik ben gegaan
2
|
'I have gone' ('I went') |
blijven
2
| to remain, stay |
Ik ben gebleven
2 |
I have stayed, remained |
Verbs taking 'Zijn' |
|
Most verbs of motion can have perfect tenses with either
hebben
‑>>
or
zijn
‑>>
— hebben when it's about the time spent in
motion or the distance covered, zijn when it's about
the destination, for instance:
Ik heb een uur gefietst
2
[I've ridden a bike] I rode a bike for an hour
Ik heb tachtig kilometer gefietst
2
3
[I've ridden a bike]
I've biked 80 kilometers
Ik ben naar Amsterdam gelopen
2
[I've walked] I walked to Amsterdam
Several of the common strong
verbs have don't have past participles
in ‑EN or
‑N
but
in ‑D
or ‑T,
for instance:
zijn
|
to be | Ik ben geweest
2
|
I have been |
hebben
 |
to have |
Ik heb gehad
2
|
I have had |
A few weak verbs don't have an ending
in ‑D
or ‑T,
but in ‑EN,
for instance:
lachen
2 |
to laugh |
|
Ik heb gelachen
 |
I have laughed |
Read about the perfect tenses and past participles of compound verbs, splitting verbs and
verbs with 'inseparable prefixes' on
the next page
|