werden

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See also: Werden

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋɛrdə(n)/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛrdən

Verb

werden

  1. inflection of worden:
    1. plural past indicative
    2. (dated or formal) plural past subjunctive

Anagrams

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wërden, from Old High German werdan, from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną. Cognate with Dutch worden, obsolete English worth, Swedish varda, Norwegian Nynorsk verta, and also with Latin vertere (to turn).

The use as a passive auxiliary is old and found throughout West Germanic, whereas the use as a future auxiliary is a Middle High German innovation. It originated in inchoative constructions with the present participle: er wirt lachende (he starts laughing, is about to laugh, will laugh). Since the 14th century, the participle was increasingly replaced with the infinitive, probably by analogy with the older future auxiliaries wollen (will) and sollen (shall). These latter were displaced by werden in Modern German, but survive dialectally.

Pronunciation

Verb

werden (irregular, third-person singular present wird, past tense wurde or (archaic) ward, past participle geworden or (as an auxiliary) worden, past subjunctive würde, auxiliary sein)

  1. (auxiliary, with an infinitive, past participle geworden) will; to be going (to do something); forms the future tense
    Ich werde nach Hause gehen.
    I will go home.
  2. (auxiliary, in subjunctive with an infinitive) would; forms the subjunctive tense of most verbs
  3. (auxiliary, with a past participle, past participle worden) to be done; forms the passive voice
    Das Buch wird gerade gelesen. (present tense)
    The book is being read.
    Ich wurde in Europa geboren. (preterite tense)
    I was born in Europe.
    Er war geschlagen worden. (past perfect tense)
    He had been beaten.
  4. (copulative, past participle geworden) to become; to get; to grow; to turn
    Es wird heißer.
    It's getting hotter.
  5. (with a dative object and certain adjectives) to begin or come to feel or experience (a condition)
    Usage: In this sense werden is always conjugated in the third person singular and takes a dative noun. The impersonal subject es may be present, but is often taken as implied. (See the usage note for a similar meaning of sein.)
    Wird dir kalt?Are you getting cold?
    Den Kindern wird langweilig.The children are getting bored.
    Von Mayonnaise wird mir schlecht.
    Mayonnaise makes me sick. (Literally: From mayonnaise I become sick.)
  6. (copulative, colloquial) to be, to happen, to occur (in the future)
    Wir werden zusammen glücklich.
    We will be happy together.
    Was wird aus mir?
    What will become of me?
  7. (colloquial) to be going to work
    Das wird so nichts.
    It will not work like that.
    Synonyms: klappen, funktionieren

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch werthan, from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną.

Pronunciation

Verb

werden

  1. to become
  2. to happen, to occur
  3. to arise, to form

Inflection

Strong class 3
Infinitive werden
3rd sg. past wart
3rd pl. past worden
Past participle geworden
Infinitive werden
In genitive werdens
In dative werdene
Indicative Present Past
1st singular werde wart
2nd singular werts, werdes worts, wordes
3rd singular wert, werdet wart
1st plural werden worden
2nd plural wert, werdet wort, wordet
3rd plural werden worden
Subjunctive Present Past
1st singular werde worde
2nd singular werts, werdes wordes
3rd singular werde worde
1st plural werden worden
2nd plural wert, werdet wordet
3rd plural werden worden
Imperative Present
Singular wert, werde
Plural wert, werdet
Present Past
Participle werdende geworden

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Dutch: worden
    • Afrikaans: word
    • Negerhollands: word
    • Petjo: worden
  • Limburgish: waere

Further reading

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German werdan, from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną. Cognate with Dutch worden and obsolete English worth (to become).

Verb

wërden (class 3 strong, third-person singular present wirdet, past tense wart, past participle worden, past subjunctive würde, auxiliary sîn)

  1. to become

Conjugation

Descendants

References

  • Benecke, Georg Friedrich; Müller, Wilhelm; Zarncke, Friedrich (1863), “werden”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Middle Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon wērthan (to become), from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną.

Pronunciation

  • Stem vowel: ê²
    • (originally) IPA(key): /wɛːrdən/ or IPA(key): /wærdən/
    • While the combination /rd/ originally lengthened the vowel in Old Saxon, in several Middle Low German dialects it was treated like a geminate, or had actually become /r/, and in turn shortened long vowels occurring before it. Further, the vowel was shortened before /rt/ from final obstruent devoicing. Dialects then often begun to apply the more common vowel length across all forms.

Verb

wêrden or werden

  1. to become
  2. auxiliary verb used to form the passive

Conjugation