Category:Dutch class 4 strong verbs

Verbs where the ablaut vowel was followed by a sonorant (m, n, l, r) but no other consonant in Proto-Indo-European.


The fourth class of Dutch strong verbs is rather small with respect to the number of roots, is characterized by a vowel length change between the singular /-ɑ-/ and plural /-aː-/ forms of the past tense. A small group of the verbs in the fourth class have replaced the past tense vowel with the /oː/ of the past participle. The class contains one irregular root komen, its present tense vowel was influenced by a preceding w, which was subsequently lost. The etymological w is retained in the past.

The paradigms are:

Form Regular Anomalous
Generalized -oː- komen
Present tense /-eː-/ breken /-eː-/ scheren /-oː-/ komen
Past tense singular /-ɑ-/ brak /-oː-/ schoor /-ɑ-/ kwam
Past tense plural /-aː-/ braken /-oː-/ schoren /-aː-/ kwamen
Past participle /-oː-/ gebroken /-oː-/ geschoren /-oː-/ gekomen