The pattern
A verb with the unstressed prefix be-, ver-, ont-, ge- or er- never splits, and its past participle gets no extra ge-. Everyday her- verbs such as herhalen and herkennen work the same way.
- The verb stays whole in every position: Ik betaal. Betaal jij? Ik weet dat hij betaalt.
- You stress the verb part, not the prefix: ta in betalen, tel in vertellen, moe in ontmoeten.
- Make the participle as usual, just without ge-: herhalen gives herhaald, ontmoeten gives ontmoet. Irregular verbs keep their vowel change: verkopen gives verkocht, begrijpen gives begrepen.
- Everyday examples: bezoeken (visit), vergeten (forget), verhuizen (move house), ontbijten (have breakfast), herkennen (recognise), gebeuren (happen), geloven (believe), erkennen (recognise officially).
- Her- is less tidy: a few long, formal her- verbs follow other patterns, such as herstructureren (restructure), which gives geherstructureerd. You will rarely need them.
Examples
| Ik betaal vandaag de koffie. | I'm paying for the coffee today. |
| Ik vertel het je morgen. | I'll tell you tomorrow. |
| Mei verkoopt haar oude fiets. | Mei is selling her old bike. |
| Bas ontvangt een brief van de gemeente. | Bas receives a letter from the municipality. |
| Herken je die man? | Do you recognise that man? |
| Daan heeft de rekening al betaald. | Daan has already paid the bill. |
| Ik heb Ahmed op de verjaardag van Lotte ontmoet. | I met Ahmed at Lotte's birthday. |
| De huisarts heeft het twee keer herhaald. | The GP repeated it twice. |
| Wat is er gebeurd? | What happened? |
| Is je diploma hier erkend? | Is your diploma recognised here? |
Why it works this way
In separable verbs like opbellen and meenemen, the stressed first part can move away from the verb to the end of the sentence: Ik bel je straks op. That first part is often also a word on its own, like op or mee, but that alone does not make a verb separable.
The prefixes in this lesson work differently: they are short, unstressed syllables that are not words on their own, and they never move. Some add a clear meaning: her- often means again, so herkennen is literally to know again. In many verbs the meaning is hard to see: the ver in vertellen has nothing to do with ver (far). Either way, the prefix belongs to the verb as firmly as "for" belongs to forget in English. You would never say "I get it for", so do not say Ik tel het je ver.
The participle has its own fixed pattern: verbs with these prefixes take no extra ge-, so betalen gives betaald, not gebetaald. You will meet more verbs like this in Participles without ge-.
One check: these prefixes are unstressed, so a stressed first syllable is not one of them. In bellen, geven and verven (to paint) you stress the first syllable, so it is simply part of the verb, and the participles are normal: gebeld, gegeven, geverfd. A few loanwords only look as if they have a prefix: verifiëren (to verify) gives geverifieerd. And the er in eruitzien (to look, as in looking good) is the separate little word er, so that verb does split: Je ziet er goed uit. Stress can even change a verb's meaning, as you will see in One verb, two meanings.
If you speak German, you have a head start: German be-, ver-, ent- and er- also stay attached and also skip ge-. Dutch ont- is simply the cousin of ent-.
Remember: be-, ver-, ont-, ge- and er- are glued to the verb. They never move to the end of the sentence, and they leave no room for an extra ge- in front.
Watch out
FoutIk heb de rekening gebetaald.
GoedIk heb de rekening betaald.
no extra ge- in front of be-
FoutIk heb Sanne gisteren geontmoet.
GoedIk heb Sanne gisteren ontmoet.
no extra ge- in front of ont-
FoutIk zoek morgen mijn oma be.
GoedIk bezoek morgen mijn oma.
be- never splits off like op in opbellen
FoutHij verteld het altijd.
GoedHij vertelt het altijd.
present tense is stem plus t; verteld is the participle
FoutIk heb haar beld.
GoedIk heb haar gebeld.
in bellen you stress bel, so be is not a prefix here
Quick check
- Fill in the participle of verkopen: Joris heeft zijn fiets gisteren ...
- Choose the correct sentence: Wij verhuizen in mei. or Wij huizen in mei ver.
- Fix the sentence: Carlos heeft de vraag niet gebegrepen.
- Fill in the present tense of vertellen: Emma ... haar buurman het nieuws.
Toon de antwoorden
- verkocht (kopen gives gekocht; with ver- the ge- disappears)
- Wij verhuizen in mei. (ver- never splits off)
- Carlos heeft de vraag niet begrepen. (no extra ge- in front of be-)
- vertelt (present tense: stem vertel plus t)
Use it today
Tonight, write three sentences about your day with betaald, ontmoet and verteld, for example Ik heb de boodschappen betaald. Read them aloud and put the stress on the verb part, not on the prefix.