Adjective agreement: A2 Dutch grammar lesson
Dutch adjectives usually pick up an extra -e: De grote stad (the big city), mooie bloemen (pretty flowers). Say the adjective, add the -e, and most of the time you're right. There's one spot where you drop it, and that's the trap.
The decision in one table
| Situation | -e? |
|---|---|
| de-word | yes |
| plural (any word) | yes |
| het-word with a pointer (het, dit, dat, mijn, uw) | yes |
| het-word behind een or no article | no |
Start with the -e, because you'll use it most
Take de stad (the city). Stad is a de-word, so the adjective gets its -e: een grote stad. Why groot loses an o in grote: the spelling-engine from les 3, open room, one vowel is enough. The -e stays whether you put de, een, or nothing in front. Plurals take it every time. A het-word takes it too, as long as something definite points at it.
| Case | Dutch | Why the -e is there |
|---|---|---|
| De-word | een grote stad | stad is a de-word |
| Plural | mooie bloemen | plurals always take -e |
| Het-word with het | het grote huis | het points at it |
| Het-word with dit | dit nieuwe boek | dit points at it |
| Het-word with mijn | mijn nieuwe adres | mijn points at it |
The one place you drop the -e
Leave the -e off only when two things are both true: the noun is a het-word, and it sits behind een (or behind no article at all). Then the adjective stays short.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| een groot land | a big country |
| een nieuw formulier | a new form |
A mistake to watch for
Once learners get the hang of the -e, they tend to stick it on everything:
- Wrong: Nederland is een grote land.
- Right: Nederland is een groot land.
Land is a het-word (het land), and here it's behind een, so the adjective loses its -e. You can't hear whether a word is de or het, you have to know it. So learn every het-word together with its article: the moment you know it's het land, you also know to write een groot land.
That misconception isn't your first language leaking in. It's the -e rule working too well. The rule is right nearly every time, so your hand adds the -e out of habit even in the one spot it doesn't belong.
One het-word in all three spots
Here's kind (child), a het-word, moving through each situation:
| Dutch | English | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| het kleine kind | the small child | het points at it, so -e |
| mijn kleine kind | my small child | mijn points at it, so -e |
| een klein kind | a small child | het-word behind een, no -e |
Practice questions
Ik koop een ___ fiets.
Nederland is een ___ land.
Ik lees het ___ boek.
U moet een ___ (nieuw) formulier invullen.