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The past participle
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English version by Bieneke Berendsen :: other languages
For the perfect tense, we use a past participle. For the conjugation of the past participle, we must distinguish between Internal link t-verbs and d-verbs (just like we did for the Internal link simple past). To establish whether we are dealing with a t-verb or a d-verb, we have to look at the last letter of the verb stem. If this is t, h, f, c, k, s or p, ("pocket fish") it is a t-verb, all other verbs are d-verbs.

past participle =
ge  +  [stem]  +  t  or  d
Whether the past participle ends in a -t or -d depends of course on whether the verb is a Internal link d- or t-verb.

maken to make stem: maak (t-verb) past participle: ge + maak + t = gemaakt
luisteren to listen stem: luister (d-verb) past participle: ge + luister + d = geluisterd

In Dutch I have made becomes: ik heb gemaakt.

The ge + stem + t/d rule applies to most regular verbs, but there are also verbs that need an extra or different treatment.

Two points to bear in mind for the past participle:

1. A past participle never ends in double t or double d

If the stem ends in -t we do not add an extra t to the past participle, if a stem ends in -d, we skip the extra d. This is actually not really an exception, if you remember that a Internal link syllable never ends in two identical consonants.

rusten to rest does not become:
ge + rust + t 		but: ge + rust = gerust
bloeden to bleed does not become:
ge + bloed + d 		but: ge + bloed = gebloed

2. Prefixes be-, er-, ge-, her-, ont- and ver-

All verbs that start with the prefixes: be-, er-, ge-, her-* , ont-, and ver- do not get ge- before the past participle, because the prefix replaces ge-: the rule for forming the past participle is here: (no ge) stem + t/d.

infinitive in english past participle
verdelen to distribute stem+d = verdeeld
geschieden to happen stem (no extra 'd') = geschied
betalen to pay stem+d = betaald
ontdekken to discover stem+t = ontdekt
erkennen to acknowledge stem+d = erkend
herkennen to recognize stem+d = herkend

In the category of her-words, there are a few exceptions:

herbergen to accommodate ge+stem+d = geherbergd
herhuisvesten to relocate ge+stem (no t ) = geherhuisvest
herstructureren to restructure ge+stem+d = geherstructureerd


Exercise  Click here for an exercise in the formation of a past participle.


A very useful web site is This is an external web link, which will open a new browser window.www.verbix.com, which conjugates Dutch verbs for you in eight different tenses + the imperative and progressive.
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