ontbraken

Ontbraken is a Dutch verb form, the past tense plural of the verb ontbreken. The basic meaning is that something was missing, not present, or unavailable in a given situation. It is used to describe situations where one or more items, people, or elements did not appear or were lacking in a context such as inventories, audits, lists, events, or research.

The infinitive ontbreken denotes the state of being missing. When describing a past event involving multiple missing items or people, one uses ontbraken. For a single missing item or person, the past tense form is ontbrak. The term often appears in formal or semi-formal writing, such as reports, minutes, and evaluations, where precise accounting of what was not present is required.

Examples include: Tijdens de controle ontbraken drie documenten. In de deelnemerslijst ontbraken vijf namen. De benodigde gereedschappen ontbraken bij aankomst. In each case ontbraken is used to indicate absence in the past for a plural subject.

Etymologically, ontbraken is formed with the prefix ont- added to breken (to break, to fail) and reflects the sense of lack or absence. Related forms include ontbreken (the present tense) and ontbrak (singular past). The concept is closely linked to ontbreken, which also conveys absence or lack in Dutch.

See also: ontbreken, ontbreken.