This page pulls together, in two master tables, the verbs you use every time you describe perceiving the world or thinking about it. Individually they're scattered across the reference; seen side by side, the patterns jump out — which ones are strong, which prepositions they lock onto, and where Dutch carves a single English verb into two. Two of those splits cause more trouble for English speakers than any irregular past tense: kennen vs weten (both "to know") and zien vs kijken (both about the eyes). Get the tables into your memory, then read the two split sections until the distinctions feel automatic.
Perception verbs — master table
These are the verbs of the five senses plus the two "directed-attention" verbs, kijken (look) and luisteren (listen). Every one takes hebben in the perfect — perceiving is an activity, never a change of state. Note which are strong (vowel-changing past) and which prepositions are fixed to them.
| Infinitive | English | Past | Participle | Type | Aux | Fixed prep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zien | to see | zag / zagen | gezien | strong | hebben | — |
| kijken | to look / watch | keek / keken | gekeken | strong | hebben | naar |
| horen | to hear | hoorde / hoorden | gehoord | weak | hebben | (van) |
| luisteren | to listen | luisterde / luisterden | geluisterd | weak | hebben | naar |
| voelen | to feel | voelde / voelden | gevoeld | weak | hebben | (zich) |
| ruiken | to smell | rook / roken | geroken | strong | hebben | naar / aan |
| proeven | to taste | proefde / proefden | geproefd | weak | hebben | — |
The single most-missed form in this table is ruiken → rook → geroken. It is strong, and the regularised ruikte / geruikt never exists. Zien and kijken are both strong with the ee → keek / ie → zag pattern. The rest are weak and predictable.
Heb je gezien hoe hard het regent? Neem een paraplu mee.
Did you see how hard it's raining? Take an umbrella. Strong participle 'gezien'.
We hebben gisteren naar een goede film gekeken.
We watched a good film yesterday. 'kijken naar', participle 'gekeken'.
De hele gang rook naar verse koffie.
The whole hallway smelled of fresh coffee. Strong past 'rook' + 'naar'.
Cognition verbs — master table
These are the verbs of thinking, knowing, and judging. Several are irregular: denken and vinden are strong/irregular, weten has the irregular wist, and vergeten is strong with the unusual past vergat. Most are hebben verbs — but vergeten alternates, and worden-style change is not in play here. Watch the fixed prepositions, especially denken aan ("to think of/about") and geloven in ("to believe in").
| Infinitive | English | Past | Participle | Type | Aux | Fixed prep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| denken | to think | dacht / dachten | gedacht | irregular | hebben | aan / over |
| weten | to know (a fact) | wist / wisten | geweten | irregular | hebben | (van) |
| kennen | to know (be familiar with) | kende / kenden | gekend | weak | hebben | — |
| geloven | to believe | geloofde / geloofden | geloofd | weak | hebben | in |
| vinden | to find / think (opinion) | vond / vonden | gevonden | strong | hebben | (van) |
| begrijpen | to understand | begreep / begrepen | begrepen | strong | hebben | — |
| herinneren | to remember | herinnerde / herinnerden | herinnerd | weak (reflexive) | hebben | zich … aan |
| vergeten | to forget | vergat / vergaten | vergeten | strong | hebben / zijn | — |
Three of these have no ge- in the participle because of their inseparable prefixes: begrepen (be-), herinnerd (her-), vergeten (ver-). And vergeten is the one verb here with a split auxiliary: ik heb mijn sleutels vergeten ("I forgot my keys" — and still don't have them: result) versus ik ben helemaal vergeten dat … ("I completely forgot that …" — the lapse itself). In practice, zijn leans toward "it slipped my mind," hebben toward "I left/forgot a thing."
Ik dacht de hele dag aan onze afspraak van morgen.
I thought about our appointment tomorrow all day. Irregular past 'dacht' + 'aan'.
Sorry, ik ben helemaal vergeten je terug te bellen.
Sorry, I completely forgot to call you back. 'zijn' + 'vergeten' — the lapse.
Heb je je sleutels weer vergeten?
Did you forget your keys again? 'hebben' + 'vergeten' — the object left behind.
The split that matters most: kennen vs weten
English uses one verb, "to know," for two genuinely different acts. Dutch — like German, French, and Spanish — keeps them apart. Kennen means to be acquainted with a person, place, thing, or skill: you have it stored, you recognise it. Weten means to know a fact — a piece of information, usually expressible as a that-clause or a question word. The rule of thumb: kennen + a noun (someone/something), weten + a fact (a clause).
| Use | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a person | kennen | Ik ken haar zus. — I know her sister. |
| a place / thing | kennen | Ken jij dat café? — Do you know that café? |
| a fact (clause) | weten | Ik weet dat ze ziek is. — I know (that) she's ill. |
| an answer / question word | weten | Weet jij hoe laat het is? — Do you know what time it is? |
A reliable test: if you can replace "know" with "be familiar with / recognise," use kennen; if you can replace it with "have the information that," use weten. Ik ken Amsterdam (I'm familiar with the city) but Ik weet dat Amsterdam de hoofdstad is (I know that fact).
Ik ken haar al jaren, maar ik weet niet waar ze nu woont.
I've known her for years, but I don't know where she lives now. kennen (person) vs weten (fact).
Ken jij een goede tandarts? Ik weet niet waar ik moet beginnen.
Do you know a good dentist? I don't know where to start. kennen (a thing) vs weten (a clause).
The other split: zien vs kijken
Both involve the eyes, but zien is to see — passive perception, what reaches your eyes whether you intend it or not — while kijken is to look / to watch — the deliberate act of directing your gaze, and it takes naar. English keeps "see" and "look" apart too, but learners over-extend zien to situations that need kijken, because in English we loosely say "Did you see the match?" where Dutch insists on kijken naar for watching something through.
| Sense | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| perceive (involuntary) | zien | Ik zie een vogel. — I see a bird. |
| direct your gaze | kijken naar | Ik kijk naar de vogel. — I'm looking at the bird. |
| watch (a film, a match) | kijken naar | We kijken naar de wedstrijd. — We're watching the match. |
Kijk eens naar de lucht — zie je die regenboog?
Look at the sky — do you see that rainbow? kijken naar (direct gaze) vs zien (perceive).
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik weet haar zus al jaren.
Incorrect — being acquainted with a person needs kennen: 'Ik ken haar zus al jaren.'
✅ Ik ken haar zus al jaren.
I've known her sister for years.
❌ Ken jij hoe laat het is?
Incorrect — knowing a fact needs weten: 'Weet jij hoe laat het is?'
✅ Weet jij hoe laat het is?
Do you know what time it is?
❌ Ik heb een vreemde geur geruikt.
Incorrect — ruiken is strong; the participle is 'geroken', never 'geruikt'.
✅ Ik heb een vreemde geur geroken.
I smelled a strange smell.
❌ We hebben naar een goede film gezien.
Incorrect — watching a film through is kijken naar: 'We hebben naar een goede film gekeken.'
✅ We hebben naar een goede film gekeken.
We watched a good film.
❌ Ik denkte de hele dag aan jou.
Incorrect — denken is irregular; the past is 'dacht': 'Ik dacht de hele dag aan jou.'
✅ Ik dacht de hele dag aan jou.
I thought about you all day.
Key Takeaways
- All seven perception verbs take hebben. Only ruiken (rook / geroken) is strong; zien and kijken are strong too; the rest are weak.
- kennen = be acquainted with (a noun); weten = know a fact (a clause). Test by swapping in "be familiar with" vs "have the information that."
- zien = perceive; kijken naar = direct your gaze / watch. "Watch the match" is naar de wedstrijd kijken.
- Fixed prepositions to lock in: kijken naar, luisteren naar, ruiken naar, denken aan, geloven in, zich herinneren aan.
- vergeten is the only split-auxiliary verb here: hebben for a forgotten object, zijn for a forgotten action ("it slipped my mind").
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- Verb Reference: How to Use These TablesA2 — A guide to reading the verb-reference pages: what each conjugation table shows (present, simple past, perfect with its auxiliary, participle), how strong/weak/mixed verbs are labelled, why the auxiliary is flagged, and which verbs to master first.
- Voelen, Ruiken, Proeven — The SensesB1 — Three verbs of perception: voelen (weak, to feel), ruiken (strong rook/geroken, to smell — ruiken naar), and proeven (weak, to taste). One strong verb mixed in with two weak, plus the naar construction.
- Kijken naar, Luisteren naar, Horen — Watch, Listen, HearA2 — How Dutch maps 'watch', 'listen to', and 'hear': kijken and luisteren take the preposition 'naar', while horen takes a plain direct object — with full conjugations, the strong past of kijken, and the exact spots English speakers go wrong.
- Vinden, Denken, Geloven, Hopen — Opinion and CognitionB1 — The four verbs you use to say what you think — strong vinden (vond/gevonden) with its obligatory 'het' for opinions, mixed denken (dacht/gedacht) with denken aan/over, weak geloven (geloofde/geloofd) with v→f devoicing, and weak hopen (hoopte/gehoopt) with hopen op and hopen te — plus the dat-clause patterns that carry your thoughts.
- Strong and Irregular Verbs: Master Reference TableB2 — A single scannable reference table of the most common Dutch strong, irregular, and mixed verbs — infinitive, simple past (singular and plural), past participle, auxiliary, and English — grouped by ablaut pattern so the regularities behind the irregulars become visible.