Dutch Separable Verbs

From UniLang Wiki

A special feature of the Dutch verb system is that some verbs are separable.

They can be recognized as their infinitive clearly contains two separate parts:

vollopen (to fill up)

goedkeuren (to approve)

doorbrengen (to spend)

But a serious difficulty arises because not all verbs that contain two separate parts are separable:

volharden (to persevere)

beeldhouwen (to sculpt)

doorstaan (to endure)

So someone who wants to learn the language should always look in a dictionary before using such a verb.

In the Present Tense and the Past Tense the first piece of a separable verb becomes the last part of the sentence, the second part is conjugated as a normal verb:

het glas loopt vol (the glass fills up)

de man keurt het rapport goed (the man approves the report)

ik breng mijn tijd bij hem door (I spend my time with him)

The non-separable verbs remain in one piece:

ik volhard (I persevere)

wij beeldhouwen al enkele maanden (we sculpt some months already)

de huizen doorstaan de storm (the houses endure the storm)

And in the Past Tense:

het glas liep vol (the glass filled up)

de man keurde het rapport goed (the man approved the report)

ik bracht mijn tijd bij hem door (I spent my time with him)

The non-separable verbs remain in one piece:

ik volhardde (I persevered)

wij beeldhouwden al enkele maanden (we sculpted some months already)

de huizen doorstonden de storm (the houses endured the storm)

When we use these verbs in a sub-sentence, they are however not separated:

ik zei hem dat het glas volliep (I told him that the glass filled up)

terwijl de man het rapport goedkeurt, zal de zon schijnen (while the man approves the report, the sun will shine)

gisteren zag ik de vriend die met mij de week doorbracht (yesterday I saw the friend that spent the week with me)

In the Future Tense we use the infinitive, so no separation is needed:

het glas gaat vollopen (the glass will fill up)

de man zal het rapport goedkeuren (the man will approve the report)

So there is no difference between separable and non-separable verbs:

wij zullen beeldhouwen (we shall sculpt)

The Past Participle of a separable verb is formed by putting -ge- in bewteen the two parts:

vol - ge - lopen: volgelopen

goed - ge - keurd: goedgekeurd

door - ge - bracht: doorgebracht

Non-separable verbs that consist of two parts form their Past Participle sometimes with ge- and sometimes without:

volhard

gebeeldhouwd

doorstaan