langzaam or langzame??
I had a quiz and I had to translate "It is a slow sheep" and "It is a slow turtle" from English to Dutch. I wrote "langzaam" for both but then afterward I thought I might have been wrong and that I should have used "langzame" for both. I got "Het is een langzaam schaap" as correct but "Het is een langzaam schildpad" was marked wrong. Why is one "langzaam" and the other "langzame"?? Also was I correct in assessing that "langzame" would have been right??

Question

Answer

You have to determine whether the noun is a de-word or het-word AND whether you have a definite or indefinite article before the adjective. The pattern is then as follows:

Definite + de-word -> adjective gets an e (de langzame schildpad)

Definite + het-word -> adjective gets an e (het langzame schaap)

Indefinite + de-word -> adjective gets an e (een langzame schildpad)

Indefinite + het-word -> in this case there is NO extra e (een langzaam schaap)

Answer

And of course, an adjective at the end of a sentence does not get an e (de schildpad/het schaap is langzaam)

Answer

That is a great question! I have noticed that some adjectives change while others do not, but I do not know the reasoning. Hopefully someone will answer this for you... and me.

Evden çıkmadan dil öğrenme fırsatını kaçırmayın. Deneyimli dil eğitmenlerimizden oluşan seçkimize göz atın ve ilk dersinize şimdi kaydolun!