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Leer de onvoltooid verleden tijd van sterke werkwoorden met klinkerverandering, zoals blijven – bleef, kiezen – koos, en rijden – reed, belangrijk voor correcte verleden tijdsvormen.
  1. In the onvoltooid verleden tijd of strong verbs, you see a vowel change.
  2. In the plural, -en is added.
  3. Nothing is added in the singular.
  4. With strong verbs, no te(n)/de(n) is added.
Categorie (Category)Infinitief (Infinitive)O.v.t. (Past tense)
ij → eeblijven (to stay)
kijken (to watch)
rijden (to drive)
lijken (seem)
...		bleef (stayed)
keek (looked)
reed (rode)
leek (leek)
...
ie → ookiezen (to choose)
vliegen (to fly)
bieden (to offer)
verliezen (to lose)
...		koos (Others:)
vloog (flew)
bood (offered)
verloor (lost)
...
ui → ooruiken (to smell)
sluiten (to close)
fluiten (to whistle)
zuigen (to suck)
...		rook (smoked)
sloot (closed)
floot (floor)
zoog (sucked)
...
i → obeginnen (begin)
drinken (drink)
springen (to jump)
vinden (find)
...		begon (started)
dronk (drank)
sprong (jumped)
vond (found)
...
e → otrekken (to pull)
vechten (fight)
zwemmen (swim)
schenken (to give)
...		trok (drew)
vocht (fought)
zwom (swam)
schonk (gave)
...
e → ooscheren (to shave)
wegen (weigh)
bewegen (move)
zweren (to swear)
...		schoor (shaved)
woog (weighed)
bewoog (moved)
zwoor (swore)
...
a → ieblazen (to blow)
laten (let)
slapen (sleep)
vallen (fall)		blies (blew)
liet (lied)
sliep (slept)
viel (much)
e → aeten (eat)
genezen (to heal)
geven (give)
vergeten (forgot)		at (Other: i → a a → oe ou → ie e → i o → e)
genas (healed)
gaf (gave)
vergat (forgot)
e → iehelpen (help)
bederven (to spoil)
scheppen (create)
sterven (to die)		hielp (helped)
bedierf (spoiled)
schiep (created)
stierf (died)

Overige: (Others:)
i → a



a → oe


ou → ie
e → i
o → e

liggen (to lie)
bidden (to pray)
zitten (to sit)

dragen (to carry)
varen (to sail)
graven (to dig)

houden (hold)
weten (to know)
worden (to become)

lag (lay)
bad (bad)
zat (Category)

droeg (carried)
voer (feed)
groef (dug)


hield (held)
wist (knew)
werd (Category)

Exercise 1: Onvoltooid verleden tijd: sterke werkwoorden

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

bleven, boden, hielp, reden, liet, lag, keek, sloot

1. Kijken:
Hij ... naar de brand uit zijn raam.
(He looked at the fire from his window.)
2. Sluiten:
De brandweer ... de straat af.
(The fire brigade closed off the street.)
3. Laten:
De agent ... de mensen het gebouw verlaten toen de brand begon.
(The agent let the people leave the building when the fire started.)
4. 3-Helpen:
Hij ... de ambulance met het slachtoffer.
(He helped the ambulance with the victim.)
5. Rijden:
Jullie ... snel naar de spoedeisende hulp.
(You drove quickly to the emergency department.)
6. Liggen:
Het slachtoffer ... op de grond toen de ambulance arriveerde.
(The victim was lying on the ground when the ambulance arrived.)
7. Bieden:
We ... hulp bij het spoedgeval.
(We offered help in the emergency.)
8. Blijven:
Wij ... binnen vanwege de brand.
(We stayed inside because of the fire.)

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose in each group the correct sentence with the right simple past tense of a strong verb. Pay attention to the vowel change and the correct conjugation without extra -te(n)/-de(n).

1.
Incorrect: singular does not get -en and the vowel change is wrong.
Incorrect: strong verbs do not get -de(n) in the past tense.
2.
Incorrect: 'kiest' is present tense, not past tense.
Incorrect: strong verbs do not get -de(n) in the past tense.
3.
Incorrect: 'vloog' is singular, here plural is needed.
Incorrect: strong verbs do not get -de(n) in the past tense.
4.
Incorrect: 'reden' is plural, here singular is needed.
Incorrect: 'rijkte' is wrong, no vowel change and wrong ending.

Onvoltooid verleden tijd: Strong Verbs in Dutch

This lesson focuses on the onvoltooid verleden tijd (simple past tense) of strong verbs in Dutch. Strong verbs are important because they form their past tense by changing the vowel in the stem rather than by adding the regular endings -te(n) or -de(n), which is common with weak verbs.

What You Will Learn

  • How strong verbs change their vowels in the past tense
  • Common vowel change patterns with examples
  • Past tense conjugation rules for singular and plural forms

Vowel Change Patterns

Strong verbs in Dutch change their vowel in the past tense according to several patterns. Here are some common categories with example verbs and their past tense forms:

CategoryInfinitivePast Tense
ij → eeblijven, kijken, rijden, lijkenbleef, keek, reed, leek
ie → ookiezen, vliegen, bieden, verliezenkoos, vloog, bood, verloor
ui → ooruiken, sluiten, fluiten, zuigenrook, sloot, vloot, zoog
i → obeginnen, drinken, springen, vindenbegon, dronk, sprong, vond
e → otrekken, vechten, zwemmen, schenkentrok, vocht, zwom, schonk
e → ooscheren, wegen, bewegen, zwerenschoor, woog, bewoog, zwoor
a → ieblazen, laten, slapen, vallenblies, liet, sliep, viel
e → aeten, genezen, geven, vergetenat, genas, gaf, vergat
e → iehelpen, bederven, scheppen, stervenhielp, bedierf, schiep, stierf
Otherliggen, bidden, zitten, dragen, varen, graven, houden, weten, wordenlag, bad, zat, droeg, voer, groef, hield, wist, werd

Conjugation Rules

For strong verbs in the onvoltooid verleden tijd:

  • In the singular form, the verb stem only changes its vowel; no additional ending is added.
  • In the plural form, -en is added to the vowel-changed stem.
  • Unlike weak verbs, no -te(n) or -de(n) endings are added to strong verbs in the past tense.

Examples

  • Singular: hij bleef (he stayed)
  • Plural: zij kozen (they chose)
  • Singular: de brandweer reed (the fire brigade drove)

Differences Between English and Dutch Past Tense

English usually forms the past tense by adding -ed (talk → talked), but many strong verbs change the vowel as well (sing → sang, drive → drove). Dutch strong verbs follow similar vowel change patterns, but the specific vowel changes and forms are different and must be memorized. Unlike English, Dutch verb endings in the past tense are different for singular and plural forms without adding extra suffixes for strong verbs.

Here are some useful Dutch words and expressions related to this topic:

  • blijven = to stay
  • kijken = to look
  • rijden = to drive
  • kozen = chose (past plural of kiezen)
  • vliegen = to fly
  • hielp = helped (past singular of helpen)

By understanding these vowel changes and patterns, you can recognize and correctly use many common Dutch strong verbs in their past tense forms.

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Kato De Paepe

Business and languages

KdG University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp

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Last Updated:

Thursday, 17/07/2025 16:53