gekregen

Gekregen is the past participle of the Dutch verb krijgen, meaning to receive or obtain. It is used with the auxiliary hebben to form the present perfect and the pluperfect, as in Ik heb een brief gekregen (I have received a letter) or Wij hadden eerder toestemming gekregen (We had previously received permission). In most contexts, gekregen denotes a completed action of obtaining something, often as a result of someone’s act or an event.

Formation and grammar: The participle gekregen is built from the verb krijgen by applying the standard ge- prefix to the past participle stem krij(gen). The simple past forms of krijgen are irregular (ik kreeg, jij kreeg, hij kreeg; wij kregen, jullie kregen, zij kregen), while the perfect participle remains gekregen regardless of subject. Dutch uses gekregen with hebben in perfect tenses; passive constructions typically use different verbs and are less common with krijgen.

Usage notes: Gekregen is common in everyday language for things given or granted to someone, such as gifts, awards, or permissions. It can be contrasted with ontvangen (to receive, more neutral or formal) or verwerven (to acquire, more deliberate). The expression can be expanded with relevant objects and time phrases, e.g., Ze heeft gisteren een cadeau gekregen, We hebben eindelijk toestemming gekregen.

Translations and nuances: In English, gekregen is typically translated as received or gotten, depending on context. The word emphasizes that something came into one’s possession as a result of an action by someone else or a circumstance, rather than merely the act of encountering something.