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Dutch adjectives and the -e rule

Dutch adjectives are easy to inflect once you learn a single rule: an adjective that comes before a noun almost always adds an -e. There is exactly one exception to memorise — a singular het-noun with een — and adjectives used after the verb never change at all.

The base rule: add -e before a noun

When an adjective stands directly in front of the noun it describes (this is called the attributive position), it takes an -e ending:

This holds for both de-words and het-words, singular and plural, whether the article is de, het, een, a possessive (mijn grote hond), a demonstrative (deze grote hond), or nothing at all (koude koffie). The default is simply: before a noun, add -e. Because the ending is so consistent, the productive question is never "does it take -e?" but "does it fall under the one exception where it does not?" — which is what the next section pins down.

The one exception: een + singular het-noun

The adjective stays in its bare form (no -e) in one specific situation: a singular het-noun that is indefinite — that is, preceded by een, by no article, or by words like geen, elk, veel.

The key is that all three conditions must hold: the noun is a het-word, it is singular, and it is indefinite. Change any one of them and the -e comes back. A de-word with een keeps the -e (een grote hond), because hond is a de-word. And once you make it plural, every noun becomes a de-word, so the exception disappears: grote huizen ("big houses"). This is why knowing your de and het articles is a prerequisite for getting adjectives right.

Adjectives after the verb never inflect

When the adjective comes after the noun via a linking verb (the predicative position), it stays in its dictionary form regardless of gender or number:

So groot keeps its bare form here even for a de-word or a plural. The -e only appears in front of a noun.

Spelling changes when you add -e

Adding -e opens the final syllable, which triggers regular Dutch spelling adjustments (the same logic behind plural spelling):

Adjectives that never take -e

A few adjectives resist the ending. Those already ending in -en never inflect: een open deur ("an open door"), gouden, houten, eigen. Materials in -en (een houten tafel, "a wooden table") and the colour-ish exception oranje stay put, as does plastic. Adjectives ending in an unstressed -e already (een oranje jas) obviously add nothing.

Comparatives and superlatives

To compare, add -er for the comparative and -st for the superlative — the same pattern as English "big / bigger / biggest".

Adjectives ending in -r insert a -d- before the comparative ending: duur → duurder, lekker → lekkerder. For long adjectives or those ending in -s / -sch, Dutch prefers meest for the superlative: de meest interessante film ("the most interesting film"). These comparative and superlative forms are themselves adjectives, so they follow the same -e rule: een snellere auto ("a faster car"), het snelste kind ("the fastest child" — superlatives are almost always definite, so they take -e). To say "than", use dan: Hij is groter dan ik ("He is taller than I am").

Irregular comparisons

The graag → liever → liefst set is worth memorising early because it is how Dutch expresses preference: Ik drink liever thee ("I'd rather drink tea").

For adjectives in action across a whole topic, the colours vocabulary page shows the -e rule applied to every colour, and the de/het guide underpins the one exception you just learned.