A change-of-state (inchoative) verb describes something becoming different — getting colder, growing larger, improving, going wrong. English speakers and especially Dutch speakers expect these verbs of change to behave like motion verbs and take a "be"-auxiliary in the perfect, the way Dutch says het is geworden. Afrikaans does not work that way: this entire class builds the perfect with het, not is. That single fact — universal het even for verbs of change — is the organising principle of this page. We also pull apart the two everyday "become" verbs, formal word and colloquial raak, which overlap heavily. For the auxiliary rule in general, see het vs is in the perfect.
The reference table
| Verb | Meaning | Example | Perfect | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| word | become | Dit word kouer. | het geword | neutral |
| raak | become / get | Sy raak kwaad. | het geraak | colloquial |
| verander | change | Alles verander. | het verander | neutral |
| groei | grow | Die plant groei. | het gegroei | neutral |
| verbeter | improve | Sy gesondheid verbeter. | het verbeter | neutral |
| versleg | worsen | Die weer versleg. | het versleg | neutral |
Every perfect in the right-hand column uses het. That is the headline. Three of them — verander, verbeter, versleg — also drop the ge- because they start with the unstressed prefix ver- (het verander, het verbeter, het versleg), while word, raak and groei keep it (het geword, het geraak, het gegroei). But the auxiliary is het in all six, without exception.
word — the neutral "become"
word is the default, register-neutral verb for becoming, and it links a subject to a new state described by a bare predicate — word koud, word groot, word kwaad. It is the verb you reach for in writing and in careful speech. Its perfect is het geword.
Dit het buite skielik baie kouer geword.
It suddenly got much colder outside.
Sy het 'n bekende skrywer geword.
She became a well-known writer.
Die kinders word groot voor jou oë.
The children grow up right before your eyes.
word also doubles as the passive auxiliary ("is being done"), but in its change-of-state use it simply means "become". For the full paradigm, see word — become.
raak — the colloquial "get/become"
raak covers much of the same ground as word but lives in everyday, spoken register. It is especially at home with sudden changes of mood or condition: raak kwaad (get angry), raak wakker (wake up), raak warm (get hot), raak honger (get hungry). It is the natural choice in conversation where word can sound a touch formal.
Moenie kwaad raak nie — ek het dit nie so bedoel nie.
Don't get angry — I didn't mean it that way.
Ek het middernag wakker geraak en kon nie weer slaap nie.
I woke up at midnight and couldn't fall asleep again.
Die kos raak koud — kom eet!
The food's getting cold — come and eat!
Like word, raak takes het in the perfect: het geraak. The two are often interchangeable (dit word koud ≈ dit raak koud), with raak feeling lighter and more conversational. word and raak also appear on the static copular group page, where the lens is their shared linking frame rather than the change they describe; for the word / raak contrast in depth, see word and raak.
verander, groei, verbeter, versleg — directional change
These four name a direction of change rather than just a switch to a new state. verander is the general "change" (it can be transitive too — verander iets); groei is "grow"; verbeter and versleg are the matched pair "improve" and "worsen". All four take het in the perfect, and the ver- members drop the ge-.
Die dorp het oor tien jaar heeltemal verander.
The town changed completely over ten years.
My Afrikaans het baie verbeter sedert ek hier woon.
My Afrikaans has improved a lot since I've lived here.
Sy toestand het oornag versleg.
His condition worsened overnight.
Die boom het in tien jaar drie meter gegroei.
The tree grew three metres in ten years.
Note that verander can be either intransitive ("things change") or transitive ("change the plan"); the auxiliary stays het either way. groei is the one purely physical verb here, but it still patterns with the abstract members on the auxiliary.
word vs raak — the same lens, two registers
The cleanest way to hold these two apart is register, not meaning. word is neutral-to-formal and works in any context; raak is colloquial and shines with sudden physical or emotional change. In the perfect both take het. Avoid the temptation to think raak is somehow "more active" and therefore takes is — it does not.
Hy het ryk geword deur harde werk.
He became rich through hard work.
Sy het later die aand baie stil geraak.
She went very quiet later that evening.
Common mistakes
❌ Dit is kouer geword.
Incorrect — Dutch transfer; word takes het, not is.
✅ Dit het kouer geword.
It got colder.
❌ Sy is kwaad geraak.
Incorrect — raak also takes het in the perfect.
✅ Sy het kwaad geraak.
She got angry.
❌ Die weer het versleg geword.
Incorrect — versleg already means 'worsen'; don't add word.
✅ Die weer het versleg.
The weather worsened.
❌ My Afrikaans is verbeter.
Incorrect — verbeter takes het; and no extra word/raak.
✅ My Afrikaans het verbeter.
My Afrikaans has improved.
❌ Die boom is baie gegroei.
Incorrect — groei takes het, not is.
✅ Die boom het baie gegroei.
The tree grew a lot.
Key takeaways
- Change-of-state (inchoative) verbs all mean "become X" — word, raak, verander, groei, verbeter, versleg.
- Despite expressing change, every one takes het in the perfect, never is — this is the Dutch-transfer trap.
- ver- members drop the ge- (het verander, het verbeter, het versleg); the others keep it (het geword, het geraak, het gegroei).
- word is neutral; raak is the colloquial "get/become", strong with sudden change (raak wakker, raak kwaad).
- word and raak also sit in the static copular class — there the focus is the linking frame, here it is the change they name.
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- word (to become) — Full FormsA2 — word does double duty in Afrikaans: as a copula it means 'become' (Dit word koud), and as an auxiliary it builds the dynamic passive (Die huis word gebou).
- Copular Verbs Together: wees, word, bly, lyk, voel, skynA2 — A lookup table of Afrikaans linking verbs — wees, word, bly, lyk, voel, skyn, raak — that all share one frame: they take a bare predicate with no -e ending, so recognising the class stops you over-inflecting the adjective after any of them.
- Choosing the Perfect Auxiliary: hetB1 — Afrikaans uses het as the perfect auxiliary for every active verb — there is no hebben/zijn or haben/sein split — and the only is + participle you ever meet is the passive, not an active perfect.