Editing Dutch grammar (section)

====Past participle====

The past participle indicates completed actions. It is also used to form the [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect]] and the [[passive voice]] with a variety of auxiliary verbs. The formation of these is discussed in the section "periphrastic forms".

As an adjective, the meaning of the past participle can be either active (having performed the action) or passive (having undergone the action), depending on the type of verb:

* For transitive verbs, the meaning is passive. Examples:
** {{lang|nl|De '''gemaakte''' keuze bleek niet zo geweldig.}} ("The '''made''' choice (the choice '''that had been made''') turned out to be not so great.")
** {{lang|nl|'''Gebroken''' glas is gevaarlijk.}} ("'''Broken''' glass is dangerous.")
* For [[unaccusative]] intransitive verbs, the meaning is active. Examples:
** {{lang|nl|De '''gevallen''' man kon niet meer opstaan.}} ("The '''fallen''' man could not get back up again.")
** {{lang|nl|Iedereen ging op zoek naar het '''verdwenen''' hondje.}} ("Everyone went looking for the dog '''that had disappeared'''.")
* For [[unergative]] intransitive verbs, the past participle cannot be used as an adjective at all. These participles can not be used with a copula such as {{lang|nl|zijn}} ("to be") either, but only to form the perfect.

Like present participles, past participles can be preceded by an adverb.
* {{lang|nl|'''Haastig gemaakte''' keuzes leiden later vaak tot problemen.}} ("'''Hastily-made''' choices often lead to problems later.")
* {{lang|nl|Ik heb het liefst '''versgemaakt''' sinaasappelsap.}} ("I prefer '''freshly-made''' orange juice.")
* {{lang|nl|'''Jong geleerd''' is '''oud gedaan'''.}} ("'''Learned young''' is '''done old'''.", a proverb)