Grammar: Dutch Adjectives

Adjectives and definite articles (het/de)

Adjectives and indefinite articles (een)
Adjecives with no article
Predicate adjectives
Unchanging adjectives
Adjectives used on their own
Oh dear. All these articles to remember and now we have to figure out how they
affect adjectives??

Dont worry dear users. Here is an explanation for you that might just help.

Adjectives and definite articles

If an adjective comes before a noun with a definite article ("de" or "het"), it usually
gets the ending -e.

An -e is also added if there is a demonstrative or possessive pronoun instead of a

definite article

deze oude hond - this old dog

dit oude huis - this old house
mijn oude hond - my old dog

mijn oude huis - my old house

Adjectives and indefinite articles

If the indefinite article een" comes before a het-word in the singular, then the
adjective does not get the -e ending.

If it comes before a de-word, it does get the ending.

The following words act like een in that the adjective does not get an ending when
preceded by them and if the noun being described is a het-word:

geen: Dat is geen groot huis. (That is not a big house.)

elk: Elk zwart pak is duur. (Every black suit is expensive.)
genoeg: Wij hebben genoeg koud water. (We have enough cold water.)
ieder: Ieder klein meisje draagt een rok. (Every little girl is wearing a skirt.)
veel: Ik koop veel lekker bier. (I am buying a lot of tasty beer.)
wat: Zij eet wat nieuw brood. (She is eating some new bread.)
weinig: De kinderen eten weinig vers fruit. (The children do not eat much fresh
fruit.)
welk: Welk oud boek leest hij? (Which old book is he reading?)
zon: Dat is zon groot dier! (That is such a big animal!)
zulk: Ze hebben altijd zulk lekker brood. (They always have such tasty bread.)
Adjectives with no article

If no article at all comes before a het-word, then the adjective does not get the -e
ending either.

If no article comes before a de-word, it does get the ending.

Predicate adjectives

Put simply, predicate adjectives are adjectives that follow a linking verb like to be
that describe the subject.

The adjective green in The ball is green. is a predicate adjective.

In Dutch, predicate adjectives dont get any ending.

Het huis is groot.

De hond is groot.
De honden zijn duur.
Unchanging adjectives

Some adjectives dont get any ending.

These include:

+adjectives ending in -en (this includes participles of verbs acting as adjectives that
end in -en) + eigen: mijn eigen hond (my own dog) + tevreden: de tevreden katten
(the satisfied cats) + gebroken: de gebroken lamp (the broken lamp) + open: het
open boek (the open book) + opgewonden: de opgewonden kinderen (the excited
children)

Material adjectives with -en

gouden: de gouden spiegel (the golden mirror)
houten: de houten stoel (the wooden chair)
zilveren: het zilveren kettinkje (the silver necklace)
And a few without -en
plastic: een plastic zak (a plastic bag)
rubber: een rubber schoen (a rubber shoe)
Adjectives ending in -a or an unstressed -e

prima: een prima kans (an excellent opportunity)

roze: een roze jurk (a pink dress)
Adjectives with ordinal numbers in the first part

tweedehands: een tweedehands auto (a second-hand car)

derderangs: derderangs producten (third-rate products)
rechter (right) and linker (left) are not inflected:

de rechter table (the right table)

de linker foto (the left photo)
NOTE: if the fact that a noun is left or right is considered a fixed attribute, then
linker and rechter are usually connected to the noun.

de linkerhand (the left hand)

de rechterkant (the right side)
Adjectives used on their own

It is also possible to use adjectives independently, which means that they dont
have to be used in direct association with a noun.

There are two instances where this occurs:

the adjective can be used as a noun itself if the noun it refers to has already been
mentioned:
Welke hoed wil je hebben, de rode of de witte? (Which hat do you want, the red one
or the white one?)

if the adjective is used in combination with the words iets (something), niets
(nothing), veel (much), wat (something), allerlei (all kinds of), wat voor (what kind
of), genoeg (enough), or weinig (not much/little), then an -s is added to the end.
Ik heb iets leuks gekocht. (I bought something nice).

Hij heeft ons veel interessants verteld. (He told us a lot of interesting things.)