Worden ("to become") does two jobs, and you cannot get far in Dutch without both. First, it is the dynamic copula — the verb of change of state, where English uses "become," "get," or "turn": het wordt koud ("it's getting cold"). Second, it is the passive auxiliary — every dynamic passive in Dutch is built on worden: de brief wordt geschreven ("the letter is being written"). This page gives the full paradigm and then nails the one fact that catches almost every learner: in the perfect passive, the participle geworden simply vanishes.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Simple past (sg.) | Past participle | Perfect auxiliary |
|---|---|---|---|
| worden | werd | geworden | zijn |
Classification: strong (irregular). The past werd / werden shows the vowel change o → e, and the participle geworden is strong (no dental suffix, -en ending). The perfect auxiliary is zijn, because worden is a change-of-state verb: ik ben dokter geworden ("I became a doctor").
Present tense
The present hides a classic spelling trap. The stem is word. For ik you write just the stem — word, with no -t. For hij/zij/het you add -t to a stem that already ends in -d, giving the written wordt (pronounced with a single final -t sound, since dt devoices to [t]).
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik | word | I become |
| jij / je | wordt | you become |
| u | wordt | you become (formal) |
| hij / zij / het | wordt | he / she / it becomes |
| wij / we | worden | we become |
| jullie | worden | you (pl.) become |
| zij / ze | worden | they become |
The rule is the general one for d-final stems: ik = bare stem (word), jij/hij = stem + -t (wordt). And as always, an inverted jij loses the -t: word jij?, never wordt jij. The forms sound identical — word and wordt are both [ʋɔrt] — so this is purely a spelling problem, and an extremely common one.
Ik word volgende week dertig.
I'm turning thirty next week. 'ik word' — bare stem, no -t.
Simple past: werd and werden
Singular werd, plural werden.
| Person | Past form |
|---|---|
| ik / jij / u / hij / zij / het | werd |
| wij / jullie / zij (pl.) | werden |
Het werd steeds drukker op het terras.
It kept getting busier on the terrace. Past 'werd' as the dynamic copula.
The perfect: zijn + geworden
As a change-of-state verb, worden takes zijn, never hebben, in the perfect. The participle is geworden.
| Person | Perfect | English |
|---|---|---|
| ik | ben geworden | I have become |
| jij / u | bent geworden | you have become |
| hij / zij / het | is geworden | he/she/it has become |
| wij / jullie / zij | zijn geworden | we/you/they have become |
Mijn dochter is verpleegkundige geworden.
My daughter became a nurse. Perfect 'is ... geworden' with auxiliary zijn.
Imperative
The imperative is the bare stem word ("become!"). It is rare in everyday speech but turns up in slogans and exhortations.
| Form | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
| Word! | singular / general | Become! |
| Word lid van onze club. | everyday / advertising | Become a member of our club. |
| Word eens volwassen. | informal, reproachful | Grow up, will you. |
Worden as the passive auxiliary
This is worden's second, equally important job. The Dutch dynamic passive ("is being done," "gets done") is worden + past participle. There is no separate verb here — you conjugate worden exactly as above and tack on the main verb's participle.
De brief wordt vandaag nog geschreven.
The letter is being written today (still). Passive: 'wordt' + participle 'geschreven'.
Het stadion werd in 1998 gebouwd.
The stadium was built in 1998. Past passive: 'werd' + 'gebouwd'.
The disappearing geworden in the perfect passive
Now the keystone fact. When you put a worden-passive into the perfect, you would expect the auxiliary zijn plus the participle of worden (geworden) plus the main participle — is geworden geschreven. Dutch deletes the geworden. The perfect passive is simply zijn + main participle:
De brief is gisteren geschreven.
The letter was written yesterday. Perfect passive — 'geworden' is DROPPED: never 'is geworden geschreven'.
Het stadion is in 1998 gebouwd.
The stadium was built in 1998. Perfect passive: 'is ... gebouwd', no 'geworden'.
The historical reason: geworden was felt to be redundant once zijn and the main participle already carry the passive meaning, so standard Dutch dropped it centuries ago. The bare geworden survives only in the active "to become" sense (ik ben ziek geworden = "I got sick"). The result is a genuine ambiguity-killer to watch for: de deur is gesloten can mean either the perfect passive ("the door was closed [by someone]") or a state ("the door is closed") — context decides.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hij word morgen veertig.
Incorrect — third person needs -t: 'wordt'. Bare 'word' is only the 'ik' form (or inverted 'word jij').
✅ Hij wordt morgen veertig.
He turns forty tomorrow.
❌ Ik wordt een beetje moe.
Incorrect — the 'ik' form is the bare stem 'word', with no -t.
✅ Ik word een beetje moe.
I'm getting a little tired.
❌ De brief is geworden geschreven.
Incorrect — in the perfect passive, 'geworden' is dropped: 'is geschreven'.
✅ De brief is geschreven.
The letter has been written.
❌ Ik heb dokter geworden.
Incorrect — the active 'to become' takes zijn, not hebben: 'ik ben dokter geworden'.
✅ Ik ben dokter geworden.
I became a doctor.
❌ Wordt jij ook uitgenodigd?
Incorrect — inverted 'jij' drops the -t: 'Word jij ook uitgenodigd?'
✅ Word jij ook uitgenodigd?
Are you being invited too?
Key Takeaways
- Present: ik word (no -t), jij/hij wordt (silent dt = [t]); inverted jij drops it (word jij?).
- Strong verb: past werd / werden, participle geworden, perfect auxiliary zijn.
- Active "to become" perfect: ik ben … geworden.
- Passive auxiliary: worden
- participle (wordt geschreven, werd gebouwd).
- Perfect passive: zijn + main participle only — geworden is deleted (is geschreven, never is geworden geschreven).
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The Passive with WordenB1 — How Dutch builds the dynamic, process passive with worden plus a past participle — De brief wordt geschreven — and why this 'something is being done' passive is grammatically separate from the resulting-state passive with zijn.
- Copular Verbs: Zijn, Worden, Blijven, LijkenA2 — The linking verbs that connect a subject to a description — all taking a bare, uninflected predicate. Dutch has no ser/estar headache, but it does split static zijn from dynamic worden ('become').
- Zijn (to be) — Full ConjugationA1 — The complete paradigm of zijn (to be): present, simple past (was/waren), the perfect built with zijn itself (ik ben geweest), imperative, and participle — Dutch's most irregular and most essential verb.
- 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.
- 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.