gevonden

Gevonden is the past participle of the Dutch verb vinden, meaning to find. It denotes that something has been located or discovered. In everyday Dutch, gevonden is most often used with the auxiliary hebben to form perfect tenses, as in Ik heb het gevonden (I have found it). The form can also appear in passive constructions, and it may function as an adjective meaning “found” or “discovered,” as in een gevonden voorwerp (a found object).

Formation and grammar

Gevonden is an irregular past participle of vinden. The infinitive vinden yields the past tense vond, while the past participle is gevonden. The prefix ge- is typical for Dutch past participles, even though the underlying stem is irregular. As an adjective, gevonden can modify nouns without changing for number in casual use, for example een gevonden voorwerp and de gevonden voorwerpen in definite listings.

Usage and contexts

Gevonden appears in contexts such as lost-and-found procedures, searches, and discoveries. Common phrases include “het gevonden voorwerp” (the found object) and “gevonden worden” (to be found/to be discovered). The word captures the result of the action of finding, rather than the act itself of looking.

Related terms

Gevinden is related to vinden and to synonyms like ontdekken (to discover). The term is distinct from vinden’s other forms, such as deedachting in the past tense (vond) or the past participle uitgevonden, which stems from uitvinden (to invent). Gevonden remains a standard, neutral term for indicating that something has been found.