From Middle Dutch sprockelen, a derivation from Middle Dutch sproc (“twig, faggot”) (whence sporkehout (“alder buckthorn”) and sprok (“brittle, fragile”)), with the frequentative verbal suffix -elen. Alternatively analyzable as sprokkel + -en, but Middle Dutch sprockel is attested more sparsely and later than sproc and sprockelen, so it may actually be a back-formation from this verb.[1]
sprokkelen
In the sense of "gathering brushwood", sprokkelen is no longer used absolutely (intransitively), but rather pleonastically, as in hout sprokkelen.
| Conjugation of sprokkelen (weak) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | sprokkelen | |||
| past singular | sprokkelde | |||
| past participle | gesprokkeld | |||
| infinitive | sprokkelen | |||
| gerund | sprokkelen n | |||
| present tense | past tense | |||
| 1st person singular | sprokkel | sprokkelde | ||
| 2nd person sing. (jij) | sprokkelt, sprokkel2 | sprokkelde | ||
| 2nd person sing. (u) | sprokkelt | sprokkelde | ||
| 2nd person sing. (gij) | sprokkelt | sprokkelde | ||
| 3rd person singular | sprokkelt | sprokkelde | ||
| plural | sprokkelen | sprokkelden | ||
| subjunctive sing.1 | sprokkele | sprokkelde | ||
| subjunctive plur.1 | sprokkelen | sprokkelden | ||
| imperative sing. | sprokkel | |||
| imperative plur.1 | sprokkelt | |||
| participles | sprokkelend | gesprokkeld | ||
| 1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion. | ||||