schrikken

Schrikken is a Dutch verb that means to frighten or startle someone, or to become frightened oneself. It can describe causing fear in another person (transitive use) or the experience of being startled by something (intransitive or reflexive use). The verb is commonly used with a direct object, as in het lawaai schrok haar (the noise startled her), and with the preposition van to indicate the cause of fear, as in ik schrok van het nieuws (I was frightened by the news). The reflexive form zich schrikken is used to express that the subject becomes frightened, often with van to indicate the trigger, for example ik schrok me rot van het lawaai (I was scared stiff by the noise). A common colloquial expression is Laat je niet schrikken, meaning don’t be scared.

Etymology and related terms: schrikken is related to the noun schrik, meaning fear or fright. The verb emerges from this root in Dutch and has cognates in other Germanic languages. It is used in both formal and informal Dutch, though some figurative or intensified senses appear more frequently in everyday speech.

Conjugation (present and past, indicative): Present tense: ik schrik, jij schrikt, hij/zij/het schrikt, wij schrikken, jullie schrikken, zij schrikken. Past tense: ik schrok, jij schrok, hij/zij/het schrok, wij schrokken, jullie schrokken, zij schrokken. Past participle: geschrokken. Imperative: Schrik! or Schrik niet! The phrase Laat je niet schrikken is a common idiom.

See also: schrik (noun), angst, starten.