worden

See also: wörden

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch werden, from Old Dutch werthan, from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wértti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɔrdə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wor‧den
• Rhymes: -ɔrdən

Verb

worden

1. (copulative) to become, to get, to grow, to turn

   Synonym: (Belgium) komen

   Zij wilde altijd al lerares worden. ― She always wanted to become a teacher.

   Mijn broer wordt vandaag twintig. ― My brother is turning twenty today.

   Het wordt hier erg benauwd. Open de ramen alsjeblieft! ― It's getting very stuffy in here. Please open the windows!

   Morgen wordt het twintig graden. ― It will be twenty degrees tomorrow.

2. (transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the imperfect tense of the passive voice, together with a past participle.

   Ze worden gered. ― They are being saved.

   De muur werd geschilderd. ― The wall was being painted.

   De muur zal worden geschilderd. ― The wall will be painted. / The wall is going to be painted.

Usage notes

• The perfect tense passive is formed using zijn, while worden matches English continuous constructions in meaning. Therefore, as in usage 2 above,
  1. Ze worden gered. translates to “They are being saved.”
  2. Ze werden gered. translates to “They were being saved.”
  3. Consequently, Ze zijn gered. and Ze waren gered. would be translated as “They have been saved.” and “They had been saved.” respectively.

Conjugation

Conjugation of worden (strong class 3)
infinitive	worden
past singular	werd
past participle	geworden
infinitive	worden
gerund	worden n
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	word	werd
2nd person sing. (jij)	wordt, word2	werd
2nd person sing. (u)	wordt	werd
2nd person sing. (gij)	wordt	werdt
3rd person singular	wordt	werd
plural	worden	werden
subjunctive sing.1	worde	werde
subjunctive plur.1	worden	werden
imperative sing.	word
imperative plur.1	wordt
participles	wordend	geworden
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.

Derived terms

• verworden
• wording
• gewaarworden
• wakker worden

Descendants

• Afrikaans: word
• Negerhollands: word
• Petjo: worden

Anagrams

• wonder

German

Etymology

The prefix ge- was originally a marker of the perfective aspect. As such it was principally not added to verbs like werden that were by definition (mostly) perfective. (Remnants of this distinction are still found in dialects; compare Luxembourgish bruecht, fonnt, komm.) In modern German, all verbs with initial stress take the prefix ge-. The exception of worden has euphonic reasons, because as an auxiliary it is always combined with another past participle. This distinction between geworden (full verb) and worden (auxiliary) fully established itself only during the 19th century, however.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Participle

worden

1. past participle of werden

   Der betreffende Mitarbeiter ist inzwischen entlassen worden.

   The employee in question has since been dismissed.

Usage notes

• Used in forming the passive of the perfect tenses. In other cases, the past participle is geworden.
• In older German, this distinction was not always maintained, and worden could be used as the past participle for all senses.

Middle Dutch

Verb

worden

1. first/third-person plural past indicative/subjunctive of werden

Middle English

Alternative forms

• worde

Etymology

From word +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwurdən/, /ˈwoːrdən/

Verb

worden

1. to speak (about)

Conjugation

Conjugation of worden (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) worden, worde
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	worde	worded
2nd-person singular	wordest	wordedest
3rd-person singular	wordeth	worded
subjunctive singular	worde
imperative singular		—
plural1	worden, worde	wordeden, wordede
imperative plural	wordeth, worde	—
participles	wordynge, wordende	worded, yworded

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: word

References

• “worden, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 27 February 2020.

Old English

Alternative forms

• ġeworden

Verb

worden

1. past participle of weorþan