{"id":5921,"date":"2019-01-24T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5921"},"modified":"2019-01-22T22:23:43","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:23:43","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-kennen-and-weten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/what-is-the-difference-between-kennen-and-weten\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between Kennen and Weten?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kennen\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0weten\u00a0<\/em>are two Dutch verbs that look different, but translated to English mean exactly the same: “to know”. So what is the difference? When do you use\u00a0kennen<\/em>? And when do you use\u00a0weten<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Weten<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Ik weet het!<\/em> (I know it!) (Image by Ani Kolleshi at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

Weten\u00a0<\/em>seems to refer to actually having researched knowledge, made observations about a certain topic – like a scientist that\u00a0weet\u00a0<\/em>something. In fact, science is called\u00a0wetenschap\u00a0<\/em>(“know-ship”, if you will). The Van Dale<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>gives the following definition of\u00a0weten<\/em>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. bekend zijn met, kennis hebben van, op de hoogte zijn van\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(to be acquainted with, to have knowledge of, to be aware)<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. in staat zijn\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(to be capable of)<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. de gevolgen ondervinden van\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(to experience the consequences of something).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I will leave out the second and third definition, as they are both more rather colloquial. I could write a different post on that!<\/p>\n

    What about\u00a0kennen<\/em>? Let’s see if we can compare that definition.<\/p>\n

    Kennen<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
    \"\"<\/a>

    Ik ken hem!\u00a0<\/em>(I know him!)\u00a0(Image by Austin Pacheco at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

    Kennen\u00a0<\/em>is defined by the\u00a0Van Dale\u00a0<\/em>as:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. bekend, vertrouwd zijn met<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    2. beleven<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Again, we will leave out the second definition. It is all about the first!<\/p>\n

      So the definition of weten<\/em> is:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. bekend zijn met, kennis hebben van, op de hoogte zijn van\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(to be acquainted with, to have knowledge of, to be aware)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        And the definition of\u00a0kennen\u00a0<\/em>is:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. bekend, vertrouwd zijn met\u00a0<\/em>(to be acquainted, familiar with)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          From these definitions, it looks like\u00a0kennen\u00a0<\/em>is more based on knowing a topic more deeply.\u00a0Weten\u00a0<\/em>is having the knowledge, but not necessarily all the details. Weten<\/em> has an etymological history from gezien hebben\u00a0<\/em>(“to have seen”), which indicates little knowledge, but having an idea. It is hard to explain.<\/p>\n

          An example:<\/p>\n

          Ik weet een dokter!\u00a0<\/em>(I know a doctor!)<\/p>\n

          Ik ken een dokter!\u00a0<\/em>(I know a doctor!)<\/p>\n

          Ik ken die dokter!\u00a0<\/em>(I know that doctor!)<\/p>\n

          Ik weet die dokter!\u00a0<\/em>is actually incorrect. Because it is bepaald\u00a0<\/em>(specific),\u00a0weten\u00a0<\/em>does not work; it only implies general knowledge, not more familiarity. In the same way that\u00a0ik ken een dokter\u00a0<\/em>implies a more direct, personal relationship than\u00a0ik weet een dokter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

          In other words:<\/p>\n

          Ik weet wel wat over Brexit, ja.\u00a0<\/em>(I know a bit about Brexit, yes).\u00a0Ik ken wel wat over Brexit, ja<\/em> is incorrect. Saying\u00a0ik ken de Brexit\u00a0<\/em>would imply that you know a lot about the Brexit!<\/p>\n

          De Bijzin<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

          Interestingly, you cannot make a\u00a0bijzin\u00a0<\/em>(subordinate clause)\u00a0with\u00a0kennen<\/em>, but only with\u00a0weten<\/em>. So if you want to say “I know that the Earth is round”:<\/p>\n

          Ik weet dat de Aarde rond is<\/em>.<\/p>\n

          So anytime you want to show your knowledge in a subordinate clause, only go with\u00a0weten<\/em>. That is a nice rule to know!<\/p>\n

          Another thing, when somebody reminds you of something “you are supposed to know”, you can say:\u00a0ik weet het\u00a0<\/em>(I know it).<\/p>\n

          If you want to acknowledge that you recognize something, you can say:\u00a0ik ken het<\/em>. After all,\u00a0herkennen\u00a0<\/em>means “to recognize”.<\/p>\n

          If you want to know if somebody already made up their mind, you ask:\u00a0weet je het al?\u00a0<\/em>(Do you already know it?).<\/p>\n

          So perhaps we can conclude that there are few differences, but simply that\u00a0weten\u00a0<\/em>is more general knowledge, more abstract knowledge, and that\u00a0kennen\u00a0<\/em>is more specific, familiar knowledge.<\/p>\n

          Do you have other examples to add? Have you struggled with these two? Are there more such similar words that you know of? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

          Kennen\u00a0and\u00a0weten\u00a0are two Dutch verbs that look different, but translated to English mean exactly the same: “to know”. So what is the difference? When do you use\u00a0kennen? And when do you use\u00a0weten? Weten Weten\u00a0seems to refer to actually having researched knowledge, made observations about a certain topic – like a scientist that\u00a0weet\u00a0something. In fact, science is…<\/p>\n

          Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":5923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60713,3590,27711],"tags":[2030,166,1401],"class_list":["post-5921","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","category-dutch-language","category-dutch-vocabulary-2","tag-comparison","tag-verbs","tag-words"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t