gezongen

Gezongen is the past participle of the Dutch verb zingen, meaning to sing. It is used with the auxiliary hebben to form perfect tenses, as in Ik heb gezongen, and with zijn in certain passive constructions, for example Het lied is gezongen door de zanger. It can also occur in pluperfect contexts: Ik had gezongen.

Morphology and usage: Gezongen is formed with the ge- prefix and the -en ending, reflecting the irregular, strong-verb root zong in the past tense (zingen: ik zing, jij zingt, hij zong; wij zongen, jullie zongen, zij zongen). The past participle gezongen does not change for person or number and is used with the appropriate auxiliary to form compound tenses (ik heb gezongen, jij hebt gezongen, wij hebben gezongen, etc.). In passive constructions, het lied is gezongen by de zanger expresses a completed action performed on the subject.

Etymology and classification: Gezongen derives from the infinitive zingen with the standard Dutch perfect participle prefix ge- and the weak -en ending, but it reflects the stem change characteristic of strong verbs in Dutch. The form contrasts with the simple past forms zong and zongen, which are used for narrative past tense rather than as participles.

See also: Zingen; Dutch grammar; Dutch verb forms.