The Past Tense of hebben
To talk about childhood toys, old possessions, and past experiences, use the simple past tense of the verb hebben (to have).
Like the past tense of zijn, it is very straightforward. It has only two forms: had for singular subjects, and hadden for plural subjects.
| Subject | Past tense of hebben |
|---|---|
| ik, jij / u, hij / zij / het | had |
| wij, jullie, zij | hadden |
Singular Subjects (had)
| My brother had an old stuffed animal in bed. | Mijn broer had een oude knuffel in bed. |
| Did the boy have a poster of a large car? | Had de jongen een poster van een grote auto? |
Plural Subjects (hadden)
| We had a fun game in the attic. | Wij hadden een leuk spel op zolder. |
| Did you all have a lot of dolls in the past? | Hadden jullie vroeger veel poppen? |
Word Order in Subordinate Clauses
Remember that in subordinate clauses—like those starting with als (when/if), dat (that), or omdat (because)—the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end of the clause. This rule applies to had and hadden too.
| The girl was happy when she had a new doll. | Het meisje was blij als ze een nieuwe pop had. |
| The child was angry because he didn't have a scooter. | Het kind was boos omdat het geen step had. |
| We know that they had an expensive collection. | We weten dat zij een dure verzameling hadden. |
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