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Lesson 14A1

Adjective Agreement

विशेषण की एकरूपता

Dutch adjectives usually add an -e ending when they sit in front of a noun, but the exact rule depends on de/het and whether the noun is definite or indefinite — a layer of noun-class agreement Hindi doesn't apply to adjectives at all.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

Before a de-word, or any definite/plural noun: always add -e

Dutch

de grote tafel (the big table), het grote huis (the big house — definite, so still -e)

Hindi

हिंदी में विशेषण संज्ञा के अनुसार नहीं बदलता

Hindi adjectives stay completely unchanged no matter what noun they describe (बड़ा मेज़ or बड़ा घर — बड़ा never shifts). Dutch grote ('big', from groot) adds -e in front of any de-word, and also in front of a het-word once that het-word is made definite. Remembering to actually change the adjective's ending, something Hindi never asks of you, is the core new habit here.

Only one exception: singular, indefinite, het-word

Dutch

een groot huis (a big house — no -e, because 'huis' is a het-word, singular, and indefinite)

Hindi

इस एक अपवाद के लिए हिंदी में कोई समानता नहीं है

The single case where the adjective stays in its bare form (groot, not grote) is a het-word that's both singular and indefinite: een groot huis, not een grote huis. As soon as any one of those three conditions changes — definite (het grote huis), plural (grote huizen), or a de-word instead — the -e comes back. This one narrow exception is worth memorizing precisely, since everywhere else defaults to adding -e.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

DutchPronunciationHindiEnglish
groot / grotekhroht / KHROH-tuhबड़ाbaṛābig
klein / kleineklayn / KLAY-nuhछोटाchoṭāsmall
mooi / mooiemoy / MOY-uhसुंदरsundarpretty / nice
nieuw / nieuweneew / NEE-vuhनयाnayānew
een groot huisun khroht hoysएक बड़ा घरek baṛā ghara big house
de grote tafelduh KHROH-tuh TAH-felबड़ी मेज़baṛī mezthe big table