Just like in English, many of the most common verbs in Dutch have irregular past participles. Instead of ending in -t or -d, irregular past participles typically end in -en, and they often involve a vowel change. Because these verbs are used so frequently, you simply have to memorize them!
Common Irregular Participles
Let's look at a few common irregular past participles. Notice how they end in -en without changing their core vowel:
- zien (to see) → gezien
- lezen (to read) → gelezen
- eten (to eat) → gegeten (Notice the extra g!)
Before we look at examples, here are some useful time words for talking about the past:
- al (already)
- gisteravond (yesterday evening)
- vorig (previous / last)
| Have you already seen the news on television? | Heb je het nieuws op televisie al gezien? |
| I already ate a pizza yesterday evening. | Ik heb gisteravond al een pizza gegeten. |
| Why did you not read the news last week? | Waarom heb je het nieuws vorige week niet gelezen? |
Vowel Changes
Many irregular verbs also change their vowel in the past participle.
- drinken (to drink) → gedronken
- vinden (to find) → gevonden
- doen (to do) → gedaan
Another useful word for describing the past is onlangs (recently):
| Did you drink wine in the city last week? | Hebben jullie vorige week in de stad wijn gedronken? |
| My sister found those photos recently. | Mijn zus heeft die foto's onlangs gevonden. |
| What have you done recently? | Wat heb je onlangs gedaan? |
Word Order Reminder
Even though the past participle is irregular, the sentence structure remains exactly the same. The conjugated auxiliary verb (hebben) takes the second position, and the past participle is pushed to the very end of the sentence or clause.
| We ate the pizza and drank the wine last night. | We hebben gisteravond de pizza gegeten en de wijn gedronken. |
| What did you do with the television and the beer? | Wat heb je met de televisie en het bier gedaan? |
