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To The Adjectives Exercises: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

Introduction to Adjectives and The Exercise

Adverbs inform about verbs; adjectives inform about nouns.
Adverbs are the 'root' form you'll find in dictionaries and words lists; adjectives in most positions have an -E ending.
De deur is dicht click to hear 2
De dichte deur click to hear 2

The door is closed
The closed door
Adjectives for singular 'het-words' after 'een' (a) - 'geen' (no, not a, zero quantity) or no article do not get the ‑E ending - other exceptions below
het lelijke eendje click to hear
geen lelijk eendje click to hear 2
the ugly duckling
not an ugly duckling
de appel is groen
de groene appel
een groene appel
het groene appeltje
een groen appeltje
hear

The apple is green
the green apple
a green apple
the little green apple
a little green apple
de lange man
een lange man
het lange boek
een lang boek
de baby slaapt lang
hear

the tall man
a tall man
the long book
a long book
the baby sleeps long (for a long time)
To The Adjectives Exercises: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

1. The Spelling Rules

2. Exceptions and Irregularities

To The Adjectives Exercises: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

3. The Why

The sound of the adjectives' vowel doesn't change, but the spelling of the word may change because of the ‑E ending.

Dutch vowels can be 'long' or 'short.' It's a traditional name - the difference is actually more a matter of tone.

short A click to hear
long A click to hear
short E click to hear
long E click to hear
'voiceless E' ('schwa') click to hear
short I click to hear
long I (IE) click to hear
short O click to hear
long O click to hear
short U click to hear
long U click to hear
Dutch spelling and pronunciation rules say that
hel / helle (hel-le) click to hear 2
heel / hele (he-le) click to hear 2
glaring, painfully bright
complete
An (imperfect) rule of thumb: I've written about this many times before

Some common Dutch nouns have a vowel change in the plural, for instance glas/glazen click to hear ('glass/glasses') but (het) glas click to hear 2 ('glass') is only the noun, while glazen click to hear is both the plural '(drinking) glasses' and the adjective 'glass.' I can't think of an adjective that has a vowel change.

4. Rare Exceptions and Irregularities

The -ISCH click to
  hear and the -LIJK click to
   hear endings are regular for the ‑E ending, but as you can hear, ISCH is pronounced EES (Dutch IES) and the syllable break is after the I, and the IJ in -LIJK sounds like 'voiceless, unstressed E.'
tragisch / tragische click to hear 2
(tra-gisch / tra-gi-sche)
tragic
automatisch / automatische click to hear
elektrisch / elektrische click to hear
vriendelijk / vriendelijke click to
  hear
duidelijk / duidelijke click to hear 2
automatic
electric
friendly
clear, easy to understand
To The Adjectives Exercises: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - More Exercises

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Don't be a dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2