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Hebben
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Just like zijn, the verb hebben is used in a variety of ways. As an independent verb it means 'to have'. But like zijn, it can also serve as the auxiliary verb before a past participle. A less common use of hebben is hebben te, meaning 'to have to'.

The present tense of hebben is not very irregular. Only the 3rd person singular has an irregular stem (heeft).

Simple present:

ik heb we hebben
je hebt jullie hebben
hij heeft ze hebben

Simple past:

ik had we hadden
je had jullie hadden
hij had ze hadden

Past participle: gehad

Note that the examples above give you the unstressed personal pronouns. Some pronouns change when they are stressed in a phrase: je/jij, we/wij, ze/zij (both singular and plural).


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Last updated on May 17, 2007 ::