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NOUN+ JE
Unfortunately, the story is not quite this simple. Depending on the phonetics
of the noun, many diminutives do not simply get -je but rather -tje, -etje, -
pje, or -kje. Continue to the next page to read more about this.
Diminutive endings
Not all Dutch nouns simply accept the addition of -je at their tails. They
often want an extra letter before -je to make their diminutive forms sound
better. That is why, apart from '-je', you will also find the following
diminutive endings:
-tje -etje
-pje -kje
If you are not interested in all these rules, skip the following pages and use
the checklist as a reference.
If you commit yourself to speaking Dutch a lot and thus get accustomed to
Dutch phonetics, you will find that after some time, you will automatically
get the diminutive endings right.
On the following pages, we will have a look at the four alternative diminutive
endings.
-tje -etje
-pje -kje
-tje -etje
-pje -kje
The ending -etje is added to nouns that end in a short vowel followed by a
single r, l, n, m or ng.
Exceptions:
Note that the final consonant of the noun is doubled in order to keep the
vowel short (see rules for keeping vowels short/long). This does not happen
to nouns ending in -ng as the vowel remains short after adding -etje.
Diminutives ending in -pje
-tje -etje
-pje -kje
-tje -etje
-pje -kje
-kje is added to nouns ending in unstressed -ing. Note that we drop the -g:
Those of you who did not and will not read all those diminutive rules can
consult the table below to check the diminutive for each noun ending. Nouns
that simply take -je are not listed here, which means that if your noun does
not have any of the endings listed below, its diminutive will take -je.
Suppose you want to look up the diminutive for the noun 'bezwaar'
(objection). First, you take the last syllable of the word, which is 'zwaar'.
Then, drop all the consonants before the vowel(s) and you get 'aar'. Scroll
down and you will find that words that end in 'aar' have diminutives ending
in 'aartje'. Thus, a small 'bezwaar' is a 'bezwaartje'.
A diminutive ending
-a -aatje
-aai -aaitje
-aal -aaltje
-aar -aartje
-aam -aampje
-al -alletje
-alm -almpje
-am -ammetje
-an -annetje
-ang -angetje
-ar -arretje
-arm -armpje
-au -autje
-auw -auwtje
E diminutive ending
-e -etje
-é -étje
-ee -eetje
-eel -eeltje
-eem -eempje
-eer -eertje
-eeuw -eeuwtje
-ei -eitje
-el (unstressed) -eltje
-el (stressed) -elletje
-elm -elmpje
-em (unstressed) -empje
-em (stressed) -emmetje
-eu -eutje
-eul -eultje
-eum -eumpje
-eun -euntje
-eur -eurtje
I diminutive ending
-i -ietje
-ie -ietje
-iel -ieltje
-iem -iempje
-ien -ientje
-ier -iertje
-ieuw -ieuwtje
-il -illetje
-ilm -ilmpje
-im -immetje
-in -innetje
-ing (unstressed) -inkje
-ing (stressed) -ingetje
-ir -irretje
-irm -irmpje
O diminutive ending
-o -ootje
-oe -oetje
-oei -oeitje
-oel -oeltje
-oem -oempje
-oen -oentje
-oer -oertje
-ol -olletje
-olm -olmpje
-om -ommetje
-on -onnetje
-ong -ongetje
-ooi -ooitje
-ool -ooltje
-oom -oompje
-oon -oontje
-oor -oortje
-or (unstressed) -ortje
-or (stressed) -orretje
-orm -ormpje
-ou -outje
-ouw -ouwtje
U diminutive ending
-u -uutje
-ui -uitje
-ul -ulletje
-ulm -ulmpje
-um (unstressed) -umpje
-um (stressed) -ummetje
-un -unnetje
-ung -ungetje
-ur -urretje
-urm -urmpje
-uul -uultje
-uum -uumpje
-uun -uuntje
-uur -uurtje
Y diminutive ending
-y -y'tje
Irregular diminutives
There are a few diminutives that do not follow the normal rules:
het blad het blaadje the leaf
(not: bladje)
het gat het gaatje the hole
(not: gatje)
het glas het glaasje the glass
(not: glasje)
Different meanings
If you only arrived on this page to look up a diminutive ending for a noun,
have a look at the checklist and ignore the table below.
-je
Nouns ending in: Operation
-tje
Nouns ending in: Operation
vowel (a, e, i, o, u, y) or Single -a, -o, and -u are doubled to keep vowel long (see
-w also rules for keeping vowels short/long).
Note that i is never doubled to keep the vowel long. Instead
an e is added: -i --> -ietje
Single e is a mute e and does not need to be doubled; you
only add -tje.
-etje
short vowel + -r, -l, -n, - Single -r, -l, -n, and -m are doubled to keep vowel short
m or -ng (see also rules for keeping vowels short/long)
-kje
-pje