werkten

Werkten is the past tense plural form of the Dutch verb werken, meaning "to work." It is used in the simple past (imperfect) tense with plural subjects. The corresponding singular past tense form is werkte, with forms such as ik werkte, jij werkte, hij werkte; while wij, jullie, and zij werkten are used for the plural.

Usage and examples

In narrative and formal writing, werkten conveys that a group performed work in the past. Examples: De arbeiders werkten hard aan het project. The workers worked hard on the project. Gisteren werkten zij aan een nieuw plan. Yesterday they worked on a new plan. In spoken Dutch, the simple past is common in some regions, though aspects of past meaning may alternatively be expressed with other tenses in casual speech.

Etymology and related forms

Werkten derives from the Dutch verb werken, which is cognate with the English work and the German arbeiten. In Dutch, past tense forms are typically built from the stem werk- with suffixes for singular (-te) and plural (-ten). The singular past tense is gewerkt in participle form and werkt as the base for other tenses, while werkten serves as the plural imperfect form.

See also

Dutch grammar, Dutch verbs, Conjugation of werken, Past tense forms in Dutch.