Endings and placement of Dutch adjectives
Exercises
- Exercise endings of Dutch adjectives 1 Score -/-
- Exercise endings of Dutch adjectives 2 Score -/-
Lesson Outline
HidePlacement of Dutch adjectives
1) Adjectives that are placed before the noun get an ending in '-e':
- De mooie hoed. (The beautiful hat.)
- Het leuke spel. (The fun game.)
- Een vrolijke hond. (A happy dog.)
Adjectives that end in '-f' without an ending in '-e', get a '-v' with an ending in '-e':
- Een lief meisje
- Het lieve meisje
Adjectives that end in '-s' without an ending in '-e', get a '-z' with an ending in '-e':
- Een vies huis
- Het vieze huis
2) Adjectives that are placed after the noun do not get an ending in '-e':
- De hoed is mooi. (The hat is beautiful.)
- Het spel is leuk. (The game is fun.)
- De hond is vrolijk. (The dog is happy.)
Adjectives from verbs
Adjectives that are derived from verbs mostly take the form of the present participle or past participle of the verb. The rules explained above apply to these adjectives as well:
- Het lachende meisje. (The laughing girl)
- Een hardwerkende student. (A hardworking student.)
- De spelende kinderen. (The playing children.)
Some adjectives are derived by verbs by giving them a complete new ending. There are no specific rules for this, so you will have to memorize them:
- Hij is werkloos. (He is unemployed.)
- Het huis is zichtbaar. (The house is visible.)
- Het was een ongelooflijke reis. (It was an unbelievable trip.)
Exceptions
Adjectives before an indefinite 'het-noun', that is used with the article 'een' or no article, do not get an ending in '-e':
- Een mooi huis. (A beautiful house.)
- Het mooie huis. (A beautiful house.)
Adjectives with endings in '–en', do not get an extra '-e':
- De gesloten deur. (The closed door.)
- De dronken vrouw. (The drunk woman.)
Adjectives of materials
When the adjective says something about the material of which the noun is made, the adjectives will usually end in '-en' if they are placed before the noun.
- De houten tafel. (The wooden table.)
- De gouden ring. (The golden ring.)
Other endings
In the combination of an adjective with iets, niets, wat, veel, allerlei, velerlei, weinig, minder, meer, genoeg, voldoende or wat voor, the adjective gets an ending in '-s':
- Hij zei niets aardigs. (He did not say anything nice.)
- Wij hebben iets stoms gedaan. (We did something stupid.)
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