S/Z; boos/bose
Hi guys.

I am doing an exercise that involves adding -e to words to change the spelling and I don't understand why 'boos' becomes 'bose'.

I understand that 'oo' becomes 'o' because in adding -e you are changing it to an open syllable. What I don't understand is why does it not become 'boze'?

Many thanks!

-Fern

Question

S/Z; boos/bose
Hi guys.

I am doing an exercise that involves adding -e to words to change the spelling and I don't understand why 'boos' becomes 'bose'.

I understand that 'oo' becomes 'o' because in adding -e you are changing it to an open syllable. What I don't understand is why does it not become 'boze'?

Many thanks!

-Fern

Answer

In fact, it does become 'boze'. :)

De vrouw is boos. - Zij is een boze vrouw.

'Wortel' becomes 'wortelen' and not 'wortellen' because the last syllable of 'wortel' is not stressed. In that case, the plural usually only gets a single consonant. You can find a more thorough explanation (in Dutch) at http://taaladvies.net/taal/advies/vraag/222/

Answer

This is coming from a dutch learner (so don't take it as 100% - but nobody else answered)
Regarding the boos/bose thing, a random thought - the s doesn't become a z because the word is an adjective. The S=>Z rule only applies to nouns i think. (huis-huizen) And there aren't many adjectives that end in S - The only that come to my mind are paars/paarse (used as an adjective) and fris/frisse ...

As for wortel/wortelen .. i don't think there is any rule about doubling the consonant : gevoel/gevoelen ; doel/doelen ; twijfel / twijfelen ... however : aanval / aanvallen

Answer

And in fact, a related question - why does 'wortel' become 'wortelen' when adding -en and not 'wortellen'?

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