vernemen

Vernemen is a Dutch verb meaning to hear about or to become aware of something, typically through indirect information from another person or source. It is often used in formal or written Dutch and carries a sense of receiving news or learning of something rather than merely perceiving it with the senses. The verb can denote discovering or being informed about a fact, event, or situation.

Etymology and related forms: Vernemen comes from Middle Dutch and is built with the prefix ver- added to nemen (to take). It is cognate with the German vernehmen and shares a similar sense of obtaining information. The past participle is vernomen, and the verb participates in standard Dutch conjugation patterns. In everyday speech, vernemen tends to be more formal or literary than synonyms like horen (to hear) or weten (to know).

Usage and syntax: Vernemen is transitive and usually takes a direct object representing the information learned, or a subordinate clause introduced by dat or a prepositional phrase indicating the source, such as van iemand. Common constructions include ik verneem dat…, hij verneemt het van de pers, and wij hebben vernomen dat…. The present tense forms are verneem, verneemst/verneemt, verneemt; the past tense forms include vernam and vernamen; the past participle is vernomen. In passive or reported contexts, the news is described as vernomen.

Examples:

- Ik verneem dat hij ziek is. (I hear that he is ill.)

- We hebben vernomen dat de vergadering is verplaatst. (We have learned that the meeting has been moved.)

See also: horen, lezen, lezen, weten. In journalism and formal writing, vernemen appears as a precise word to indicate acquisition of information rather than direct perception.