Dutch Verb Leren ('to Learn / to Teach') - Smartphones Page

'Leren' 2 'to teach' // 'to learn' is a weak verb of the non-'t kofschip class: verb stems not  ending in T, K, F, S, CH and P have simple past endings -DE and -DEN and its past participle ending is -D - more

overview
leren		to learn / to teach
ik leer		I'm learning
wij leren		we're learning
ik leerde		I learned
wij leerden		we learned
ik heb geleerd		I have learned
2

simple present tense
leren		to learn / to teach
ik leer		I'm learning
jij leert		you're learning (singular, informal you)
hij leert		he's learning
wij leren		we're learning
jullie leren		you are learning (plural, informal you)
zij leren		they are learning
U leert		you are learning (polite you)
2

simple past tense
(leren)		to learn / to teach
ik leerde		I learned
jij leerde		you learned
hij leerde		he learned
wij leerden		we learned
jullie leerden		y'all learned
zij leerden		they learned
U leerde		you learned
2 3

Ik leer 2 I'm learning // I'm teaching

Ik heb geleerd 2 I have learned, I've been taught
auxiliary verb for the perfect tenses hebben

Sample Sentences

woordjes leren (learning words - a children's dictionary)

Nederlands leren learning Dutch Harder werken aan Nederlands leren Work harder on learning Dutch - a resolution Dus je wilt Nederlands leren? So you want to learn Dutch? De beste plaats om Nederlands te leren. The best place for learning Dutch. ‑>>

Leren 2 can mean 'to teach' or 'to learn.' Which one is ususally clear from the context. The 'to teach' meaning is often combined with a personal pronoun or a name:

Leer de regels Learn the rules Leer me de regels Teach me the rules Ik heb veel geleerd 2 3 I have learned [much] many things, a lot Ik heb jullie veel geleerd 2 I have taught you guys many things

Ik leer jullie Nederlands 2 I'm teaching you (guys) Dutch
As I said,  'leren' can mean both 'to teach' and 'to learn' - and Dutch  'jullie' can be both the possessive 'your,' and the dative (and nominative and accusative) - so (theoretically) the line above could also mean 'I'm learning your Dutch, I'm learning the Dutch that you (guys) speak'

uit het hoofd leren 2 to learn by [head] heart, by rote, commit to memory

De tijd zal 't leren 2 time will [teach] tell

leren van fouten 2 3 learning from mistakes Ik heb 't van jou geleerd 2 [I've learned it from you] It was taught to me by you, You taught it to me Heb je d'r wat van geleerd? 2 Did you learn something from it? Did it teach you something? Wat heb je ervan geleerd? 2 3 What did you learn form it, what did it teach you? Wat hebben we ervan geleerd? 2 What have we learned from it? What did it teach us? Hoewel de proef mislukte hebben we toch veel geleerd Although the experiment failed, we still learned a lot Weer wat geleerd! 2 3 [Learned something again] - I learned something new!

Om 't af te leren 2 3 'to unlearn it,' 'to break the habit' - said when you take one too many drinks or snacks

Sayings with 'Leren'
Al doende leert men 2 3 ['while doing, you learn'] - 'practice makes perfect' Jong geleerd, oud gedaan 2 3 4 ['learned young, still doing it at old age'] - what's learned young will still be easy in old age

En hij leerde hun vele dingen in gelijkenissen en Hij zeide tot hen in zijn onderwijs: And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his teaching: (Mark 4:2 ‑>>)

Verbs Combined

'hebben

zijn

'worden' 2

ik heb gehad I have had ik ben geweest I have been Het huis wordt geverfd The house is being painted

Not all verbs can combine with other verbs.
When verbs other than hebben, zijn  and worden  as active verbs combine with other verbs, those other verbs will be infinitives.
Look at the next lines:

't Hoeft niet grappig te zijn 2 3 4 It doesn't have to be funny 't Moet wel interessant zijn 2 But it has to be interesting

Er kan niet genoeg geld zijn There cannot be enough money (it's impossible that there is enough money) Er blijkt genoeg geld te zijn 2 3 [There turns out to be ...] - It turns out that there is enough money

Note that 'te'  appears in two of the lines, but not in all four: there is a 'special group' of Dutch verbs, somewhat like English 'modal verbs' that don't use 'te'  in combinations - more
Leren  is in the 'special group' of verbs that don't put 'te'  before verbs they're combining with:

Leer ons alzo onze dagen tellen 2 3 So teach us to number our days (Ps 90:12) Hij leerde fietsen in Nederland 2 3 He learned to ride a bike in Holland Leentje leerde Lotje lopen langs de lange Lindelaan Leentje taught Lotje walking [along] on the long Linden lane

Willen 2 'to want to, desire' and moeten 2 'must, have to' are in the 'special group' that doesn't add 'te,'  but proberen 'to try' does add 'te.'

Ik wil Nederlands leren 2 3 I want to learn Dutch Ik probeer Nederlands te leren I'm trying to learn Dutch Jullie moeten nog veel leren 2 3 You guys still have a lot to learn We moeten nog veel leren 2 3 4 We still have a lot to learn

Je moet ermee leren leven 2 3 You'll have to learn to live with it (something bad or unpleasant isn't going away)

When in the perfect tenses combining with other verbs, the verbs in the 'special group' appear as infinitives, except 'leren,'  which can appear both as an infinitive (ik heb leren ... 2 3) and as a past participle (Ik heb geleerd ... 2)
There is not much difference, often you can use either one, but the past participle 'looks more serious,' refers to matters 'of the mind,' things like attitude adjustment and/or things learned from unpleasant experiences, and the infinitive is more about acquiring skills.
Note that 'heb leren'  does not put 'te' before accompanying infinitives, but 'heb geleerd'  does.

Ik heb geleerd te zwijgen 2 3 I've learned to keep silent, keep my mouth shut You can as well say:
Ik heb leren zwijgen 2 3

Ik heb leren luisteren 2
Ik heb geleerd te luisteren 2 I've learned to listen

Ik heb leren zwemmen 2 3 I've learned to swim But It's not good Dutch to say:
'Ik heb geleerd te zwemmen'
but you can say both:
Ik heb geleerd tegen de stroom in te zwemmen 2 3
and:  Ik heb tegen de stroom in leren zwemmen 2 3 4 I've learned [to swim against the current] - to go my own way, rebel, not follow current trends, fashion or popular thinking, go against the majority

Ik heb leren improviseren 2 3 I've learned to improvise Ik heb moeten leren improviseren 2 I've had to learn to improvise, learn improvisation

Ik heb moeten leren ... 2 I've had to learn ... Ik heb moeten leren lezen I've had to learn to read

Ik had gitaar kunnen leren spelen 2 I could have learned to play the guitar (instead of ...) Ik had kunnen leren programmeren 2 I could have learned programming (instead of ...)

(Ik heb een paar jaar pianoles gehad I've had piano lessons for a [couple of] few years) Maar ik had beter gitaar kunnen leren spelen But learning to play the guitar would have [been better] made more sense

Leren kennen 2 3 coming to know Ik leerde 'm kennen in 't leger 2 3 I [learned] came to know him in the army Ik heb 'm leren kennen in 't leger 2 3 I've come to know him in the army You can't say:
'Ik heb geleerd hem te kennen'

A Few Far-Fetched Examples:
Ik heb op een oud schip geleerd haring te kaken 2 3 I have learned to gut herring on an old ship
herring - 'haring kaken' Ik wil op een oud schip haring leren kaken 2 3 I want to learn to gut herring on an old ship

Not really 'wrong,' but not the preferred way:
Ik wil op een oud schip leren haring te kaken I want to learn to gut herring on an old ship Placing the object before the past participle in lines like this is really wrong:
'Ik heb op een oud schip haring geleerd te kaken'
is not good Dutch

Ik heb in Deventer koek leren bakken 2 3 I've learned to bake 'cake' in Deventer Ik wil in Deventer koek leren bakken 2 I want to learn to bake 'cake' in Deventer Ik heb in Deventer geleerd koek te bakken 2 3 I have learned to bake 'cake' in Deventer
(de) koek 2 - 'cake'

English 'Learning'

Dutch words you could use for discovering facts and items: (this paragraph may be expanded in the future)

ontdekken to discover - not only new worlds, also 'to find'

ontdekken		to discover
ik ontdekte		I discovered
ik heb ontdekt		I have discovered

te weten komen 2 3 ['to come to know'] - to find out Hoe ben je dat te weten gekomen? 2 3 4 How did you come to know that? How did you find (that) out? See also: weten to know (things)

ergens achter komen 2 [to come, get behind something] - to find out something ‑>> Hoe ben je erachter gekomen? 2 How did you find [it] out? Ik kwam er te laat achter 2
Ik ben er te laat achter gekomen 2 I found out [about it] too late

What you can say for picking up trivia, factoids:
Ik heb ergens gelezen dat ... 2 I have read somewhere that ... Ik heb wel eens gelezen dat ... 2 I have read sometime (somewhere) that ... Ik heb wel eens gehoord dat ... 2 I have heard sometime (somewhere) that ...

achterhalen 2 1. to retrieve, discover, find out
2. to overtake, supplant Hij heeft 't achterhaald 2 3 4 He was able to retrieve it (hidden, hard-to-find information) Al is de leugen nog zo snel, de waarheid achterhaalt haar wel 2 3 4 ['However quick a lie may be, the truth will overtake it'] - Lies won't last, truth will come out eventually Mark Twain said something else: 'A lie will fly around the whole world while the truth is getting its boots on.'
'To overtake' like passing traffic or getting ahead of competitors is inhalen 2 3 - it can also mean 'to make up for' unfinished work and it has other meanings

Het onderzoek heeft uitgewezen dat ... 2 3 4 The investigation has shown that ... De politie heeft ontdekt dat ... 2 3 Police has discovered that ... We hebben vastgesteld dat ... 2 3 We have found/determined that ...

Other Words for Teaching

les geven (lesgeven)

A more formal word for 'to teach' is onderwijzen 2 3 - a strong verb:

onderwijzen to teach

-

onderwees taught

-

onderwezen taught

2

(de) onderwijzer teacher (male, elementary school level)

(het) voorbeeld 'example' ‑>>
Geef 't goede voorbeeld [Give] Set a good, the right example

Voordoen 2 to show, demonstrate something ‑>> De sergeant deed het schoonmaken voor 2 3 The sergeant showed the cleaning procedure

Related Words

(de) geleerde 2 3 'learned' person, scholar, scientist (old-fashioned) (het) geleerde 2 3 the material, knowledge and/or skill that was learned Seen also: weten en kennen 'to know'

(de) leerling 2 student (elementary and secondary school level) (de) tovenaarsleerling sorcerer's apprentice
(de) leraar teacher (male, secondary school level) (de) lerares teacher (female, secondary school level)
do note that the E of -ES is a 'short E' and not a 'schwa' (de) leermeester bewegingsleer 2 mobility teacher (de) student college or university student (de) hoogleraar 2 professor - top level teacher at a university, addressed as
"professor" 'professor'

leerzaam 2 3 educational, instructive leerzaam en/of vermakelijk 2 3 educational and/or entertaining leerzaam en/of amusant 2 3 educational and/or entertaining

(de) verzamelingenleer 2 set theory

(de) les lesson ‑>>
plural:  lessen 2
As mentioned above:  les geven to teach
de lange les the long lesson
Laat 't een les zijn! 2 3 [Let it be a lesson] - I hope you learned something from it, I hope it (the bad thing that happened) has taught you something We hadden goed opgelet tijdens de les 2 We had paid close attention during the lesson Ik heb een paar jaar pianoles gehad I've had piano lessons for a [couple of] few years Ik ken haar van de Nederlandse les 2 3 4 I know her from Dutch lessons, from the Dutch course een dure les 2 3 4 literally 'an expensive lesson' but often said of an unpleasant experience, not always involving money, that taught you something

(de) leer 2 teachings, doctrine
but:  (het) leer 2 leather

de leren schoenen - de schoenen zijn van leer the leather shoes - the shoes are of leather

English 'to leer' is to look at people in an unpleasant way. The Dutch verbs for that are loeren and if it's furtive, hidden: gluren 2

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