Irregular Dutch verbs are much less random than they look. Most of them change their vowel in a limited set of fixed patterns, so _schrijven, schreef, geschreven_ and _blijven, bleef, gebleven_ follow exactly the same tune. Learn the six big families below and most new irregular verbs become variations on something you already know.
The pattern
Most irregular verbs change their vowel across three forms: the infinitive (the dictionary form), the simple past (the one-word past) and the past participle (the form after _heb_ or _ben_). Verbs that change in the same way form a family.
- ij, ee, ee: _schrijven, schreef, geschreven_; _blijven, bleef, gebleven_. Also _kijken_, _rijden_, _krijgen_.
- ie, oo, oo: _kiezen, koos, gekozen_; _bieden, bood, geboden_. Also _vliegen_, _schieten_.
- i, o, o: _drinken, dronk, gedronken_; _zingen, zong, gezongen_; _beginnen, begon, begonnen_ (no _ge-_ after the prefix _be-_). Also _vinden_, _winnen_. Many have _nk_, _ng_, _nd_ or _nn_ after the _i_.
- e, a, e: _geven, gaf, gegeven_; _lezen, las, gelezen_; _eten, at, gegeten_.
- e, a, o: _nemen, nam, genomen_; _breken, brak, gebroken_. Also _spreken_.
- a or oo, ie, a or oo: _slapen, sliep, geslapen_; _lopen, liep, gelopen_. Also _laten_, _vallen_.
- The plural past adds _-en_: _wij schreven, kozen, dronken, sliepen_. In the two families with _a_, that _a_ becomes long in the plural: _ik gaf_ but _wij gaven_, _ik nam_ but _wij namen_.
- The family names describe sound. In these verb forms, a long _ee_ or _oo_ is written double before a consonant in the same syllable and single when the syllable ends in the vowel: _koos_ but _ge-ko-zen_ ([open and closed syllables](#/lesson/open-closed-syllables)). An _f_ or _s_ in the singular often becomes _v_ or _z_ in the plural: _schreef, schreven_; _las, lazen_ ([v and f, z and s](#/lesson/v-f-z-s)).
Examples
| Toen Fatima bij de gemeente werkte, schreef ze elke dag tientallen e-mails. | When Fatima worked at the municipality, she wrote dozens of emails every day. |
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| Ik ben gisteren thuis gebleven, omdat het zo hard regende. | I stayed at home yesterday because it was raining so hard. |
| De buren boden aan om onze planten water te geven terwijl wij op vakantie waren. | The neighbours offered to water our plants while we were on holiday. |
| Op Lottes verjaardag zongen we zo hard dat de buren aanbelden. | At Lotte's birthday we sang so loudly that the neighbours rang the doorbell. |
| De vergadering was al begonnen toen Joris eindelijk binnenkwam. | The meeting had already started when Joris finally came in. |
| Sanne las de brief van de huisarts twee keer, omdat ze hem niet meteen begreep. | Sanne read the letter from the GP twice because she didn't understand it straight away. |
| Carlos nam de trein van kwart over acht, maar die had vertraging. | Carlos took the quarter past eight train, but it was delayed. |
| Omdat er geen bus meer reed, liep Bas naar huis. | Because there were no more buses, Bas walked home. |
Why it works this way
These verbs are often called strong verbs (_sterke werkwoorden_): they show the past by changing their vowel instead of adding _-te_ or _-de_. Dutch shares this old system with English and German, which is why _drinken, dronk, gedronken_ sounds so much like drink, drank, drunk. The verbs that kept it are mostly everyday ones, and words you use constantly tend to resist change.
The families sort verbs; they do not predict them. The infinitive does not tell you whether a verb is irregular: _rijden_ gives _reed_, but _bevrijden_ (to set free) is regular, _bevrijdde_. _Winnen_ gives _won_, but _pinnen_ (to pay by card) gives _pinde_. Verbs with _e_ are the trickiest, because they spread over several families: _geven_ (_gaf, gegeven_), _nemen_ (_nam, genomen_), _helpen_ (_hielp, geholpen_). There are smaller families too, like _sluiten, sloot, gesloten_, and a few loners such as _zijn, was, geweest_.
So check a new verb once, then file it in its family. That second step is where the real saving happens.
Remember: say each new irregular verb as a set of three, like a little tune: _drinken, dronk, gedronken_. Once a family's tune is in your head, _vinden, vond, gevonden_ is just new words to a melody you already know.
Watch out
- Not: _Ik drank gisteren te veel koffie._ Say: _Ik dronk gisteren te veel koffie._ (English drank misleads you; in Dutch _drank_ is a noun meaning drinks)
- Not: _Ik heb een nieuwe telefoon gekiesd._ Say: _Ik heb een nieuwe telefoon gekozen._ (_kiezen_ is irregular: _koos, gekozen_)
- Not: _We hebben bij Yara Indonesisch gegaten._ Say: _We hebben bij Yara Indonesisch gegeten._ (in the _e, a, e_ family the participle goes back to _e_)
- Not: _Daan is naar het station geliepen._ Say: _Daan is naar het station gelopen._ (in this family the participle returns to the vowel of _lopen_)
- Not: _Wij schreefen een kaart voor oma._ Say: _Wij schreven een kaart voor oma._ (open syllable, so one _e_, and _f_ becomes _v_)
Quick check
- Fill in the simple past of _schrijven_: _Vorig jaar ... Priya haar eerste brief aan de gemeente in het Nederlands._
- Fill in the past participle of _lezen_: _Heb jij de mail van de huisarts al ...?_
- Choose the right form: _Joris heeft zijn arm (gebraken / gebroken / gebreken) toen hij van de trap viel._
- Fix the sentence: _Mei is vorig jaar naar Japan gevliegen._
Answers
- _schreef_: the _ij, ee, ee_ family, singular because the subject is _Priya_.
- _gelezen_: the _e, a, e_ family, so the participle goes back to _e_.
- _gebroken_: the _e, a, o_ family, like _nemen, genomen_.
- _Mei is vorig jaar naar Japan gevlogen._: _vliegen_ is in the _ie, oo, oo_ family (_vloog, gevlogen_).
Use it today
Tonight, write five short sentences about your day in the simple past using _at_, _las_, _dronk_, _liep_ and _schreef_, such as _Ik dronk koffie met Ahmed._ Then say the three forms of each verb out loud and name its family.