From the word list:ik loop; liep – gelopen. Means “to walk”, not “to run” (that is rennen or hardlopen). In Flanders, though, lopen often does mean “to run”.
Bold and underlined: the ending. ◆ marks a form that breaks the rule.
Every sentence comes from this course’s word lists or grammar topics. The verb form is highlighted, and the line below says which tense and person it is.
Is het ver lopen?Is it a long way to walk?
lopen — Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd · wij/we; Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd · jullie
lopen — Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd · wij/we; Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd · jullie
More example sentences
Loop niet zo hard, ik kan je niet bijhouden!Don’t walk so fast, I can’t keep up!
Het kind liep huilend naar zijn moeder.The child walked to his mother in tears.
We hebben vandaag meer dan twintig kilometer gelopen.We have walked more than twenty kilometres today.
Mistakes English speakers often make
WrongIk heb naar het station gelopen.
RightIk ben naar het station gelopen.
With a destination, lopen takes zijn: Ik ben naar het station gelopen. Without one it takes hebben: Ik heb een uur gelopen. English has “have” in both.
A common trap
WrongIk lop elke ochtend in het park.
RightIk loop elke ochtend in het park.
English has a silent final e and doubled letters only in the written word, so cutting off -en feels natural, and you end up with ik lop or ik lev — forms that would sound different and are never written. Say the infinitive aloud: if the vowel is long, it stays long, and in the short word that takes two letters.
The forms are calculated from the rules of the language — twice, in two independent ways — and checked against every hand-written form in this course. The example sentences are the course’s own.