Weten is the Dutch verb for knowing a fact — knowing that something is the case, or knowing a piece of information. English collapses two distinct ideas into the single word "know," but Dutch splits them: weten is knowledge of facts and information, while kennen is acquaintance — knowing a person, a place, a song. Getting this split right is one of the clearest markers of a learner who has moved past beginner. On top of the meaning, weten is irregular: the present has weet across the whole singular, and the past is the irregular wist/wisten. This page lays out every form and the all-important weten-vs-kennen line.
Principal parts
These four forms generate the rest. Weten is an irregular verb: the past wist changes the vowel (ee → i) and adds -t, while the participle geweten looks weak (ge- … -en with a -t-). It doesn't fit the clean strong or weak templates, so it's listed among the irregulars.
| Infinitive | Simple past (sg.) | Past participle | Perfect auxiliary |
|---|---|---|---|
| weten | wist | geweten | hebben |
Classification: irregular. The vowel change in the past (ee → i) is strong-like, but the -t ending and the participle in -en are weak-like — a genuine mix, so memorise the parts.
Present tense
The stem is weet, and unusually the form weet covers the entire singular — ik weet, jij weet, hij weet are all identical (the stem already ends in -t, so adding the jij/hij -t changes nothing). The plurals are the infinitive weten.
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik | weet | I know |
| jij / je | weet | you know |
| u | weet | you know (formal) |
| hij / zij / het | weet | he / she / it knows |
| wij / we | weten | we know |
| jullie | weten | you (pl.) know |
| zij / ze | weten | they know |
Because the stem ends in -t, the usual jij-inversion rule has nothing to drop: weet jij? is simply weet + jij (you never write weett, and you never drop to wee).
Ik weet niet of hij vandaag komt.
I don't know whether he's coming today. 'weet' + a question-clause is the bread and butter of weten.
Simple past: wist and wisten
The past is wist (singular) / wisten (plural). The vowel shifts from ee to i, and a -t appears — irregular, so memorise it. There's no weak -te/-de on top.
| Person | Past form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik / jij / u / hij / zij / het | wist | knew |
| wij / jullie / zij (pl.) | wisten | knew |
Ik wist niet dat jij ook kwam.
I didn't know you were coming too. Singular past 'wist'.
The perfect: hebben + geweten
Weten takes hebben in the perfect, with the participle geweten. Note the participle has the ee of the infinitive (not the i of the past): ge- + weten → geweten.
| Person | Perfect | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik | heb geweten | I have known |
| jij / u | hebt geweten | you have known |
| hij / zij / het | heeft geweten | he/she/it has known |
| wij / jullie / zij | hebben geweten | we/you/they have known |
In practice the perfect of weten is less common than the simple past wist — Dutch tends to narrate knowledge in the past with wist. But the perfect is alive in phrases like Dat had ik kunnen weten ("I should have known that").
Dat heb ik altijd al geweten.
I always knew that. Perfect 'heb ... geweten' for knowledge held over time.
Imperative
The imperative is the bare stem weet, used mainly in the fixed, slightly elevated formula Weet dat … ("Know that …") and the reassurance Weet je ("you know", a filler).
| Form | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
| Weet! | bare imperative (rare, literary) | Know! |
| Weet dat ik altijd voor je klaarsta. | elevated / heartfelt | Know that I'm always there for you. |
| Weet je, … | conversational filler (informal) | You know, … |
Weten vs kennen: the core contrast
This is the distinction English speakers must internalise. Weten takes a fact, an embedded clause, or het/dat — it answers "do you know that / whether / what …". Kennen takes a direct object you're acquainted with — a person, place, book, or skill — it answers "are you familiar with this?".
- Weet jij hoe laat het is? — "Do you know what time it is?" (a fact)
- Ken jij die man? — "Do you know that man?" (acquaintance)
A reliable test: if you can follow "know" with that, whether, how, where, why, or a bare it/that, you want weten. If you'd follow it with a person or thing you'd recognise, you want kennen.
Ik weet het antwoord niet, maar ik ken iemand die het wél weet.
I don't know the answer, but I know someone who does. 'weet het antwoord' (fact) vs 'ken iemand' (person).
Three model sentences
These cover the fact-clause, the past, and the weten-vs-kennen line.
Weet je toevallig waar het station is?
Do you happen to know where the station is? 'weet' + an embedded 'waar'-question.
Niemand wist wat er precies gebeurd was.
Nobody knew exactly what had happened. Singular past 'wist' + embedded clause.
Ik ken Amsterdam goed, maar ik weet niet waar dat café zit.
I know Amsterdam well, but I don't know where that café is. 'ken' a place vs 'weet' a fact.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik weet hem al jaren.
Incorrect — you're acquainted with a person, so use kennen: 'Ik ken hem al jaren'.
✅ Ik ken hem al jaren.
I've known him for years.
❌ Ken jij hoe laat het is?
Incorrect — a fact/question-clause needs weten: 'Weet jij hoe laat het is?'
✅ Weet jij hoe laat het is?
Do you know what time it is?
❌ Ik weette het niet.
Incorrect — weten is irregular; the past is 'wist', never the weak '*weette'.
✅ Ik wist het niet.
I didn't know.
❌ Wij wist niet wat te doen.
Incorrect — a plural subject needs the plural past 'wisten'.
✅ Wij wisten niet wat te doen.
We didn't know what to do.
❌ Hij weett het antwoord.
Incorrect — the stem already ends in -t, so the third person is just 'weet', never '*weett'.
✅ Hij weet het antwoord.
He knows the answer.
Key Takeaways
- Present: weet across the whole singular (ik/jij/hij weet), weten in the plural.
- Past is irregular: singular wist, plural wisten (vowel ee → i).
- Perfect: heb geweten with hebben; in practice the simple past wist is more common.
- weten = know a fact or dat/of/hoe-clause; kennen = be acquainted with a person/place/thing.
- The stem ends in -t, so jij-inversion and the third person leave it as plain weet.
Now practice Dutch
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