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Strong vs Weak Verbs

Two conjugation classes

Weak verbs are regular

They form the past and participle with dental endings.

💬 Examples
werken → werkte → gewerkt
to work → worked → worked
📝 Weak pattern
horen → hoorde → gehoord
to hear → heard → heard
📝 Weak with -d
Strong verbs change the vowel

They show an internal vowel change and an -en participle.

📊 Strong verb patterns
Infinitive Past Participle
zingen zong gezongen
lopen liep gelopen
geven gaf gegeven
nemen nam genomen
lezen las gelezen
💬 Examples
zingen → zong → gezongen
to sing → sang → sung
📝 i→o→o pattern
lopen → liep → gelopen
to walk → walked → walked
📝 Strong, ge-...-en
Mixed and irregular verbs

A few verbs combine patterns or are wholly irregular.

💬 Examples
brengen → bracht → gebracht
to bring → brought → brought
📝 Irregular vowel + dental
zijn → was → geweest
to be → was → been
📝 Fully irregular