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B1 · The imperfect (simple past)

Liep, ging, kwam, zag: the strong imperfect

strong and irregular verbs in the imperfect

Topic 69 of 90 · about 8 minutes

Your goal

You can recognise and use the strong past forms such as liep, ging, kwam and zag.

Gisteren ging ik naar de markt.Yesterday I went to the market.

Ze zag haar oude juf in de trein.She saw her old teacher on the train.

We dronken koffie op het terras.We drank coffee on the terrace.

Done at 8 of 10, including 3 of 4 written yourself · about 5 min

Explainer video

Watch first – then practise

The essentials

RememberStrong verbs: new vowel, no ending in the singular, -en in the plural.

Another vowel instead of an ending — often as in English, sometimes surprising.

When: Before the past
The past
Past linked to the present
The present
The future
Completed in the future
The past — Something that happened, finished, and stays where it happened.
Signal words: was
waren
had
ging
kwam
zag
liep
deed

The form

The forms side by side

All the forms in one overview: first what each one stands for, then the form in Dutch, so you can compare them directly.

to be	ik was – wij waren
to have	ik had – wij hadden
to go	ik ging – wij gingen
to come	ik kwam – wij kwamen
to see	ik zag – wij zagen
to walk	ik liep – wij liepen
to write	ik schreef – wij schreven
to do	ik deed – wij deden
to buy	ik kocht – wij kochten
can, to be able to	ik kon – wij konden

This tense with other verbs

Tap a verb or type your own — the table opens at this tense, in the same colours.

The rules one by one

The form this topic is about

Strong verbs change the vowel and have no ending in the singular.
Ik liep langs de gracht.I walked along the canal.
In the plural -en is added.
We kwamen te laat.We came too late.
In the plural the spelling of the vowel or the consonant sometimes changes.
Ze schreven elkaar elke week.They wrote to each other every week.

More rules (2)

zijn and hebben become was/waren and had/hadden.
Het was koud en we hadden honger.It was cold and we were hungry.
A few common verbs form an imperfect in -cht.
Hij kocht een nieuwe fiets.He bought a new bike.

Example sentences

6 more example sentences

Hij gaf me een boek.He gave me a book.

De kinderen sliepen al.The children were already asleep.

Wat deed je in Gent?What did you do in Ghent?

Ik vond mijn sleutels onder de bank.I found my keys under the sofa.

We bleven tot middernacht.We stayed until midnight.

Ze kon niet komen.She couldn’t come.

The trap English speakers fall into

Watch out

Since English “walk” is regular (“walked”), you will build a regular form for lopen too: loopte. But lopen is strong: liep. Do not mix it up with de liefde, which means “love”. As a rule check each common verb: if the English one is strong, the Dutch usually is, but not always.

Wrong:Ik loopte naar het station.

Right:Ik liep naar het station.

Lesson

The full explanation

Read it all · about 1 min

Strong verbs do not form the imperfect with an ending but with another vowel, as in English “sing – sang”: lopen – liep, zien – zag, schrijven – schreef. In the singular the bare form is used; in the plural -en is added: ik liep, wij liepen; ik schreef, wij schreven.

You will recognise many of them from English: kwam(came)gaf(gave)zag(saw)sprak(spoke)dronk(drank)nam(took)zat(sat)at(ate) Others go their own way: gaan – ging (went is a different word in English too), staan – stond, slaan – sloeg, doen – deed, kopen – kocht(bought)denken – dacht(thought)

Learn the two most important first: zijn → was, waren and hebben → had, hadden. They occur in nearly every story and also build the pluperfect. Note that the plural of was is waren, as in English “was – were”.

A closer look

The patterns at a glance

ij – ee – ee: blijven, bleef, gebleven. ui – oo – oo: sluiten, sloot, gesloten. ie – oo – oo: bieden, bood, geboden. i – o – o: drinken, dronk, gedronken. e – a – o: breken, brak, gebroken. e – a – e: geven, gaf, gegeven. Besides these there are loners such as gaan, ging, gegaan and zijn, was, geweest. English has the same kind of vowel families (“drink, drank, drunk”; “break, broke, broken”).

Exceptions and special cases2

Exception
When a verb is strong only in the participle (bakken, lachen)
then the imperfect is regular: bakte, lachte — but gebakken, gelachen.
We lachten om de grap.We laughed at the joke.
Why? The boundary between strong and weak has shifted over time; some verbs have stayed half strong.
Exception
When a strong verb has a short vowel (zat, lag, gaf)
then the vowel is written single in the plural, but it is long: zaten, lagen, gaven.
We zaten in de tuin.We sat in the garden.
Why? In an open syllable a single vowel is already long.

Worth knowing2

Worth knowing
An f that turns into v
With geven – gaf – gaven and schrijven – schreef – schreven f and v alternate as in brief – brieven. In the singular there is f at the end of the word, in the plural v between vowels.
Ze gaven ons een cadeau.They gave us a present.
Worth knowing
Patterns help
Strong verbs belong to groups with the same vowel change: schrijven – schreef, blijven – bleef, kijken – keek; drinken – dronk, zingen – zong, vinden – vond. Learning in groups is faster.
Ze bleef thuis en keek tv.She stayed at home and watched TV.

The verbs on this page, in every form: hebben · gaan · komen · doen · zitten · zien · geven · kopen