Dutch Verbs: The Simple Past Tense - Smartphones Page

The simple past in Dutch has two forms: plural and singular.
Like in English, many common verbs are 'strong,' meaning that for the past tense (and often also for the past participle) they have a vowel (or diphthong) change, and sometimes also a consonant change for a new 'past-tense-stem.' 'Weak' verbs just add endings to the verb stem we know and love from the present tense.
sterke werkwoorden 2 'strong verbs'
zwakke werkwoorden 2 3 'weak verbs'

Weak Verbs - 't kofschip

Examples:

danken - stem: dank - 't kofschip-type: T-endings
danken		to thank
ik dankte		I thanked
jij dankte		you thanked (singular, informal)
hij dankte		he thanked
wij dankten		we thanked
jullie dankten		you thanked (plural, informal)
zij dankten		they thanked
U dankte		you thanked (polite)

'Bedanken' 2

- ik bedankte

stemmen - stem: stem NOT 't kofschip-type: D-endings
stemmen		to vote / to tune
ik stemde		I voted
jij stemde		you voted
hij stemde		he voted
wij stemden		we voted
jullie stemden		y'all voted
zij stemden		they voted
U stemde		you voted

fietsen - stem: fiets - 't kofschip-type: T-endings
(fietsen 2 )		to ride a bike
ik fietste		I rode a bike
jij fietste		you rode a bike (singular)
hij fietste		he rode a bike
wij fietsten		we rode a bike
jullie fietsten		you rode a bike (plural)
zij fietsten		they rode a bike
U fietste		you rode a bike (polite)

horen - stem: hoor - NOT 't kofschip-type: D-endings
(horen 2 )		to hear
ik hoorde		I heard
jij hoorde		you heard
hij hoorde		he heard
wij hoorden		we heard
jullie hoorden		y'all heard
zij hoorden		they heard
U hoorde		you heard

Verbs with stems ending in D or T will have the regular -DE, -DEN, -TE or -TEN endings, but the double D or T is pronounced the same as a single D or T - for the plural, you will see the difference in the written form, but there's no difference in pronunciation between the present and the past tense.

'Wij lachen' 2 ('we laugh, we are laughing')
is clearly different from
'wij lachten' 2 ('we laughed, we were laughing') - but
'wij wachten' ('we are waiting')
sounds exactly the same as
'wij wachtten' 2 ('we waited, we were waiting') and
'laden' sounds exactly the same as 'laadden' ('to load, loaded')
wij laden 2 'we are loading'
wij laadden 'we were loading, we loaded'
wij praten 2 / wij praatten 2 ('we are talking / we were talking')

wachten - stem: wacht - 't kofschip-type: T-endings
(wachten )		to wait
ik wachtte		I waited
jij wachtte		you waited
hij wachtte		he waited
wij wachtten		we waited
jullie wachtten		y'all waited
zij wachtten		they waited
U wachtte		you waited

leiden - stem: leid - NOT 't kofschip-type: D-endings
(leiden )		to lead
ik leidde		I led
jij leidde		you led
hij leidde		he led
wij leidden		we led
jullie leidden		y'all led
zij leidden		they led
U leidde		you led

Also note: zetten

zetten		to put, place
ik zet		I put
wij zetten		we put
ik zette		I put (past tense)
wij zetten		we put (past tense)
ik heb gezet		I have put
2

Fine point: The F/V and S/Z shift and 't kofschip

meaning	infinitive	stem	past tense (singular)
to believe	geloven 2	geloof 2 3	geloofde 2 believed
to promise	beloven 2 3 4	beloof	beloofde 2 promised
to shuffle, walk without energy	sloffen 2	slof	slofte 2 shuffled
meaning	infinitive	stem	past tense (singular)
to blush	blozen	bloos	bloosde blushed
to wash	wassen 2	was	waste 2 washed
cows etc. taking in grass	grazen 2	graas	graasde grazed
to plane (wood)	schaven	schaaf	schaafde 2 planed
to forge, counterfeit, falsify	vervalsen	vervals	vervalste forged
to dance	dansen 2	dans 2	danste 2 danced
to waltz	walsen	wals	walste waltzed
to tremble	beven 2	beef 2	beefde 2 trembled
to fear	vrezen 2	vrees	vreesde 2 feared
to cross	kruisen 2	kruis	kruiste 2 crossed
~to bubble	bruisen	bruis	bruiste ~bubbled
to rustle (wind)	ruisen 2	ruis 2	ruiste 2 rustled
to whizz	suizen 2	suis	suisde whizzed
to grin	grijnzen 2	grijns	grijnsde 2 grinned
to feign	veinzen	veins	veinsde 2 feigned

Strong Verbs

EXAMPLES

(vinden 2 )		to find
ik vond		I found
jij vond		you found (singular, informal)
hij vond		he found
wij vonden		we found
jullie vonden		you found (plural, informal)
zij vonden		they found
U vond		you found (polite)
2

vragen		to ask
ik vroeg		I asked
jij vroeg		you asked (singular, informal)
hij vroeg		he asked
wij vroegen		we asked
jullie vroegen		you asked (plural, informal)
zij vroegen		they asked
U vroeg		you asked (polite)

(helpen 2 )		to help, assist
ik hielp		I helped
jij hielp		you helped (singular, informal)
hij hielp		he helped
wij hielpen		we helped
jullie hielpen		y'all helped
zij hielpen		they helped
U hielp		you helped (polite)

Almost all strong verbs with an A in the past tense will have that A short in the singular and long in the plural. The only exceptions are hadden, the past tense of hebben 'to have' - and dachten 2 the plural past tense of denken 2 and brachten 2 the plural past tense of brengen 2 - A's which of course can never be 'long' before that CHT (or even before CH.)
wij dachten 2 3 'we thought'
wij brachten 2 'we brought'

(hebben )		to have
ik had		I had
jij had		you had (singular)
hij had		he had
wij hadden		we had
jullie hadden		you had (plural)
zij hadden		they had
U had		you had (polite)

(zien )		to see
ik zag		I saw
jij zag		you saw (singular, informal)
hij zag		he saw
wij zagen		we saw
jullie zagen		y'all saw
zij zagen		they saw
U zag		you saw (polite)

(liggen 2 )		to lie down
ik lag		I was lying down
jij lag		you were lying down
hij lag		he was lying down
wij lagen		we were lying down
jullie lagen		y'all were lying down
zij lagen		they were lying down
U lag		you were lying down
2

(komen )		to come
ik kwam		I came
jij kwam		you came (singular)
hij kwam		he came
wij kwamen		we came
jullie kwamen		y'all came
zij kwamen		they came
U kwam		you came (polite)

(eten )		to eat
ik at		I ate, was eating
jij at		you ate, were eating
hij at		he ate, was eating
wij aten		we ate, were eating
jullie aten		y'all ate, were eating
zij aten		they ate, were eating
U at		you ate, were eating

Verbs that have an F/V or S/Z shift in the present tense also will have that shift in the past tense, and it may be combined with the short A in the singular, long A in the plural:

geven		to give
ik gaf		I gave
jij gaf		you gave
hij gaf		he gave
wij gaven		we gave
jullie gaven		y'all gave
zij gaven		they gave
U gaf		you gave

(lezen )		to read
ik las		I read, was reading
jij las		you read, were reading
hij las		he read, was reading
wij lazen		we read, were reading
jullie lazen		y'all read, were reading
zij lazen		they read, were reading
U las		you read, were reading

ik las

(schrijven 2 3 )		to write
ik schreef		I wrote
jij schreef		you wrote
hij schreef		he wrote
wij schreven		we wrote
jullie schreven		y'all wrote
zij schreven		they wrote
U schreef		you wrote

ik schreef

There are no useful rules for what the strong verbs changes are, but there is sometimes a similarity with English verbs - a list of strong verbs.
More about strong verbs on the page about the Perfect Tenses - next.

<< the present tense - the perfect tenses >>

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