These three verbs reward being learned together because each hides a small trap. Roepen ("to call, to shout") is a clean strong verb of the oe–ie–oe type. Scheppen is two verbs wearing one spelling: in the sense "to create" it is strong (schiep → geschapen), but in the sense "to scoop / shovel" it is weak (schepte → geschept) — the meaning decides the conjugation. And lachen ("to laugh") is a hybrid: its past is the weak lachte, yet its participle is the irregular gelachen, which looks strong but isn't. All three take hebben. This page lays out the paradigms and the two splits to watch.
Roepen — "to call, to shout"
A straightforward strong verb (class 7, oe–ie–oe): roep → riep → geroepen. The participle has the prefix ge- and the strong ending -en. Auxiliary: hebben.
Principal parts: roepen · riep / riepen · geroepen · aux hebben.
| Person | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| ik | roep | riep |
| jij/u/hij/zij/het | roept | riep |
| wij/jullie/zij | roepen | riepen |
As with lopen → liep, there is no vowel split in the past: both riep and riepen keep the ie. The imperative is the bare stem roep ("Roep maar als je iets nodig hebt" — "Just call if you need anything").
Je moeder roept je, het eten is klaar.
Your mother's calling you, dinner's ready. Present 'roept'.
Hij riep nog iets achter me aan, maar ik verstond het niet.
He shouted something after me, but I didn't catch it. Past 'riep'.
Ze hebben de dokter erbij geroepen.
They called in the doctor. Perfect 'geroepen' with hebben.
Scheppen — one spelling, two verbs
This is the headline trap. Scheppen conjugates differently depending on what it means.
Sense 1 — "to create" (strong): schep → schiep → geschapen. This is the verb of creation, famous from the Bible (God schiep de wereld — "God created the world") and alive in everyday phrases like banen scheppen ("to create jobs") and orde scheppen ("to create order"). Note the participle geschapen, with an a, not geschepen.
Sense 2 — "to scoop / to shovel" (weak): schep → schepte → geschept. This is the physical verb — scooping soup, shovelling sand. It conjugates as a perfectly ordinary weak verb.
| Meaning | Present | Past | Participle | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| to create | schep / schept | schiep / schiepen | geschapen | strong |
| to scoop / shovel | schep / schept | schepte / schepten | geschept | weak |
De nieuwe fabriek heeft honderden banen geschapen.
The new factory created hundreds of jobs. 'create' → strong 'geschapen'.
Volgens het verhaal schiep God de wereld in zes dagen.
According to the story, God created the world in six days. Strong past 'schiep'.
Ze schepte de soep in de borden.
She ladled the soup into the bowls. 'scoop' → weak past 'schepte'.
We hebben de hele ochtend zand geschept.
We shovelled sand all morning. 'scoop' → weak participle 'geschept'.
Lachen — weak past, irregular participle
Lachen ("to laugh") looks like it should be strong, and its participle gelachen reinforces that impression — but its past tense is the regular weak lachte / lachten. Only the participle is irregular: standard Dutch has gelachen, not the "expected" weak gelacht. So lachen is best filed as a weak verb with one irregular form. Auxiliary: hebben.
Principal parts: lachen · lachte / lachten · gelachen · aux hebben.
| Person | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| ik | lach | lachte |
| jij/u/hij/zij/het | lacht | lachte |
| wij/jullie/zij | lachen | lachten |
The ch makes the past sound like lach-te with the same hard ch as in "loch." Don't be tempted into a strong past — there is no liech or anything of the kind; the past is the tidy weak lachte.
We lachten ons rot om zijn verhaal.
We laughed ourselves silly at his story. Weak past 'lachten'.
Daar hebben we vroeger zo om gelachen.
We used to laugh so much about that. Irregular participle 'gelachen'.
Lach niet, het is echt gebeurd!
Don't laugh, it really happened! Imperative 'lach'.
Common Mistakes
❌ God schepte de wereld.
In the 'create' sense scheppen is strong, so the past is 'schiep': 'God schiep de wereld.'
✅ God schiep de wereld.
God created the world.
❌ De fabriek heeft veel banen geschept.
In the 'create' sense the participle is the strong 'geschapen': 'De fabriek heeft veel banen geschapen.'
✅ De fabriek heeft veel banen geschapen.
The factory created many jobs.
❌ Ze schiep de soep in de borden.
For physical scooping, scheppen is weak: 'Ze schepte de soep in de borden.'
✅ Ze schepte de soep in de borden.
She ladled the soup into the bowls.
❌ We hebben de hele avond gelacht.
The standard participle of lachen is the irregular 'gelachen', not 'gelacht'.
✅ We hebben de hele avond gelachen.
We laughed all evening.
❌ Hij roepte mijn naam.
Roepen is strong; the past is 'riep', not a regularised 'roepte'.
✅ Hij riep mijn naam.
He called my name.
Key Takeaways
- roepen (riep/riepen → geroepen, hebben) = "to call, shout"; clean strong verb, no vowel split in the past.
- scheppen splits by meaning: create is strong (schiep → geschapen, note the a); scoop/shovel is weak (schepte → geschept).
- lachen (lachte/lachten → gelachen, hebben) has a weak past but an irregular participle — gelachen, never gelacht.
- All three take hebben in the perfect.
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