Gedragen

Gedragen is the past participle of the Dutch verb dragen, meaning to wear, carry, or bear. It is used to form perfect tenses with the auxiliary hebben, as in ik heb een jas gedragen (I wore a coat). It also appears in reflexive constructions about behavior, such as zich gedragen: zij heeft zich goed gedragen (she has behaved well).

Grammatically, dragen is a transitive verb that takes a direct object for clothing or objects being carried. The past participle dragen becomes gedragen when used with hebben, for example hij heeft de tas gedragen (he has carried the bag). In passive constructions, gedragen can occur but is less common in everyday speech; the active form is typically preferred when referring to wearing or carrying clothes or items.

Usage notes and related forms: the phrase dragen is central to expressions about clothing, possessions, and carrying actions, and the compound participle gedragen is inherited from the same root as other Germanic languages. The reflexive usage zich gedragen conveys manners or conduct, and its past participle (zich gedragen) is used with hebben to describe past behavior, as in zij heeft zich netjes gedragen.

Etymology: dragen comes from Old Dutch and is cognate with German tragen and English bear, all arising from a common Proto-Germanic root related to bearing or carrying. The perfect participle in Dutch is formed with ge- and -en, yielding gedragen, which participates in a range of tenses and constructions alongside dragen.