afziet

Afziet is not a standard Dutch verb form. In contemporary Dutch, the correct present tense construction for the verb afzien, meaning to forgo, renounce, or do without, is built with the verb zien in the present tense: hij ziet af, jij ziet af, wij zien af. The infinitive is afzien, and the past participle is afgezien. The form afziet does not appear in standard dictionaries and is generally considered nonstandard, dialectal, or a misspelling.

Etymology and meaning: afzien is a composite verb formed from af- (down, away, or apart) and zien (to see), with the figurative sense of “seeing away from” something, i.e., choosing not to participate or to give up a course of action. In usage, afzien covers abstaining, renouncing, or sacrificing a potential option, often in formal or written Dutch.

Usage: In normal writing, one would say, for example, hij ziet af van deelname aan het project, or zij ziet af van het aanbod. The sentence afziet van iets would be considered incorrect in standard Dutch and should be avoided in formal contexts. Dialects or informal speech in some regions may produce forms that resemble afziet, but they are not recognized as standard equivalents of afzien.

Relation to afzien: Afzien is the widely used verb with the same core meaning. Afziet can be encountered only as a nonstandard variant and is not interchangeable with the standard form. Learners are advised to use ziet af and afzien in all but nonstandard dialect contexts. See also afzien, zien.