For some verbs, the internal vowel of the stem changes in the past
tense. The stem with the changed vowel then acts as the past tense for all
persons of the singular, while the plural adds -en to the changed stem. In
addition, there are some irregular verbs that change more than the vowel, but
still add nothing for the singular and -en for the plural.
| ik, jij, u, hij, zij | wij, jullie, zij | |
| zijn - to be | was | waren |
| hebben - to have | had | hadden |
| gaan - to go | ging | gingen |
| weten - to know | wist | wisten |
| denken - to think | dacht | dachten |
| blijven - to stay | bleef | bleven |
| drinken - to drink | dronk | dronken |
| eten - to eat | at | aten |
| breken - to break | brak | braken |
| bijten - to bite | beet | beten |
| gieten - to pour | goot | goten |
This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages