How does the Dutch past passive 'werden' work?
Uitleg over de slavenhandel en haar gevolgen
A2 Dutch listening practice · Dutch · Picked for people who know a little
The Dutch simple past passive is built with werden (the past plural of worden, to become) plus a ge- past participle. Werd(en) gevangen genomen (were captured), werd(en) verkocht (were sold), werd(en) behandeld (were treated), werd(en) mishandeld (were mistreated). It’s the historian’s tense: history-textbook Dutch is built on it.
This Karrewiet explainer on the trans-Atlantic slave trade runs almost entirely in the past passive: « Miljoenen mensen uit Afrika werden met geweld gevangen genomen [...] werden met boten naar Brazilië en de Caraïben gebracht en daar verkocht als slaven » (millions of Africans were captured by force, transported by ships to Brazil and the Caribbean, and sold as slaves). The construction does the moral lifting: people were acted upon.
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How common in written Dutch
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Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-NL 2014 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Dutch and Flemish history textbooks like Memo by Malmberg and Geschiedeniswerkplaats by Noordhoff where the past passive narrates colonization and the wars
- ▸On Dutch public broadcasting in NTR documentaries like De Slavernij and on VRT Canvas when reporters reconstruct historical events
- ▸In Dutch news writing in NRC, Volkskrant, and Trouw where the past passive runs through court rulings, archaeological finds, and government decisions
- ▸In Dutch courtroom transcripts and police reports where the past passive separates the action from the actor (er werd gestolen, de auto werd in brand gestoken)