Dutch Menemonic Voor Werkwoorden

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Nostromo Thursday 30th of June 2005 09:11:51 PM
menemonic voor werkwoorden - I'm not sure how many people are familiar with this (Dutch folk excluded!), but there is a way to remember whether a 'voltooid deelword' ends with a d or a t. It is the d/t problem.
e.g. Werken = werkte = gewerkt (not gewerkd), but how do you know this?
You can remember this menemonic: 't Kofschip. it is a type of ship, but this is of no concern.
taking the stem of a verb by removing the -en ending e.g. 'Werken = werk', you check to see if the last consonent appears in 't kofschip and if it does it has 't' on the end. All others have 'd'.
Example: Wachten = wacht (stem). The last 't' is in 't kofschip so = gewacht.
Of course there are exceptions and other fine tuning. I'll leave someone else to explain that.

Gijs Thursday 30th of June 2005 09:28:49 PM
- Hallo Nostromo,

Very good ! :)
I have to admid that i forgot how to use this rule.

Do you know that you can also use the word:
[b]'t fokschaap[/b] (I leave the translation to you)
i think its a type of sheep.->:D
(just use the word that is the easiest to remember for you) ;)

Nostromo Thursday 30th of June 2005 09:41:14 PM
- Hi Gijs. I discovered that word yesterday from my girlfriend. Fokschaap could indeed sound suspiscious to English ears... I have never seen a fokschaap by the way!

Mathieu Friday 01st of July 2005 12:30:29 AM
- Useful post, some extra notes maybe, if you don't get it yet:
Now, you know the verb for 'to work' is 'werken'. Remove the 'en' like Nostromo said, and check out if the last letter of what you have left, wer[b]k[/b], is in "'t kofschip".
OR: If you are familiar with the concept of voiced (with vocal chords) and voiceless (without vocal chords, ie. whispered) consonants, you may remember it this way: If it's voiced, you attach the voiced consonant, namely the 'd'. If it's voiceless, it gets accompanied by the voiceless consonant, 't'.
So the final consonant in 'wer[b]k[/b]' is voiceless, so you get a 't'. The one in the verb 'bellen' (to phone), is voiced: be[b]l[/b], so you get a voiced ending:

I work, I worked, I have worked
Ik werk, ik werk[b]t[/b]e, ik heb gewerk[b]t[/b]

I phone, I phoned, I have phoned
Ik bel, ik bel[b]d[/b]e, ik heb gebel[b]d[/b]

Remember that there is a singular and a plural form for the past tense:

I worked, we worked
Ik werkte, wij werkten

I phoned, we phoned
Ik belde, wij belden

Conclusion: when you form the past tense, you need to know 1. the person, and 2. the nature of the final consonant of the stem (which is the 'en'-less form, a.k.a the 1st person singular form). Then you know what suffix you'll get.

NOTE: Some verbs have no 'en' on the end, to my knowledge they are [b]always[/b] irregular (am I right, natives?). In that case, you'll get a different word, and not the suffix. Like in english, I swim, I swam, I have swum. The process at play in this example is called umlaud - a vowel change. That happens in Dutch too, but there are also other things at play. Bottom line is; you have to learn the irregular ones by heart. Always try to recall if you know the irregular shapes, before you go add suffixes. And if there is no 'en' on the end, think extra hard.

Phrasebase Archive
	Nostromo	Thursday 30th of June 2005 09:11:51 PM
	menemonic voor werkwoorden - I'm not sure how many people are familiar with this (Dutch folk excluded!), but there is a way to remember whether a 'voltooid deelword' ends with a d or a t. It is the d/t problem. e.g. Werken = werkte = gewerkt (not gewerkd), but how do you know this? You can remember this menemonic: 't Kofschip. it is a type of ship, but this is of no concern. taking the stem of a verb by removing the -en ending e.g. 'Werken = werk', you check to see if the last consonent appears in 't kofschip and if it does it has 't' on the end. All others have 'd'. Example: Wachten = wacht (stem). The last 't' is in 't kofschip so = gewacht. Of course there are exceptions and other fine tuning. I'll leave someone else to explain that.
	Gijs	Thursday 30th of June 2005 09:28:49 PM
	- Hallo Nostromo, Very good ! :) I have to admid that i forgot how to use this rule. Do you know that you can also use the word: [b]'t fokschaap[/b] (I leave the translation to you) i think its a type of sheep.->:D (just use the word that is the easiest to remember for you) ;)
	Nostromo	Thursday 30th of June 2005 09:41:14 PM
	- Hi Gijs. I discovered that word yesterday from my girlfriend. Fokschaap could indeed sound suspiscious to English ears... I have never seen a fokschaap by the way!
	Mathieu	Friday 01st of July 2005 12:30:29 AM
	- Useful post, some extra notes maybe, if you don't get it yet: Now, you know the verb for 'to work' is 'werken'. Remove the 'en' like Nostromo said, and check out if the last letter of what you have left, wer[b]k[/b], is in "'t kofschip". OR: If you are familiar with the concept of voiced (with vocal chords) and voiceless (without vocal chords, ie. whispered) consonants, you may remember it this way: If it's voiced, you attach the voiced consonant, namely the 'd'. If it's voiceless, it gets accompanied by the voiceless consonant, 't'. So the final consonant in 'wer[b]k[/b]' is voiceless, so you get a 't'. The one in the verb 'bellen' (to phone), is voiced: be[b]l[/b], so you get a voiced ending: I work, I worked, I have worked Ik werk, ik werk[b]t[/b]e, ik heb gewerk[b]t[/b] I phone, I phoned, I have phoned Ik bel, ik bel[b]d[/b]e, ik heb gebel[b]d[/b] Remember that there is a singular and a plural form for the past tense: I worked, we worked Ik werkte, wij werkten I phoned, we phoned Ik belde, wij belden Conclusion: when you form the past tense, you need to know 1. the person, and 2. the nature of the final consonant of the stem (which is the 'en'-less form, a.k.a the 1st person singular form). Then you know what suffix you'll get. NOTE: Some verbs have no 'en' on the end, to my knowledge they are [b]always[/b] irregular (am I right, natives?). In that case, you'll get a different word, and not the suffix. Like in english, I swim, I swam, I have swum. The process at play in this example is called umlaud - a vowel change. That happens in Dutch too, but there are also other things at play. Bottom line is; you have to learn the irregular ones by heart. Always try to recall if you know the irregular shapes, before you go add suffixes. And if there is no 'en' on the end, think extra hard.