This is a practice page. The adjective -e rule is explained in full on The -e Rule and Its One Big Exception; here you are going to apply it, over and over, until building the right form is reflex. The rule is short enough to carry in your head: before a noun, add -e — except for a singular het-word with een (or no article), which stays bare; after a verb, add nothing. Everything below is a worked drill on those three lines. Do them out loud. The goal is not to recognise the rule but to produce the right ending without stopping to think.
The decision in three questions
Every time you put an adjective in front of a noun, run this tiny checklist:
1. Is the adjective before a noun, or after a verb? After a verb (is, zijn, wordt) → add nothing. Before a noun → go to question 2.
2. Is the noun a het-word, singular, with een / geen / no article? Yes → adjective stays bare. No → add -e.
3. (Everything else) → add -e.
That's it. The whole rule is one bare-cell exception sitting inside a default of "add -e." Let's build forms.
Drill 1: de-words always take -e
Start with the easy half. A de-word in front of a noun always takes -e — with de, with een, in the plural, every time. There is no exception for de-words at all.
de grote auto, een grote auto, grote auto's
the big car, a big car, big cars — de-word 'auto', so -e in all three.
de oude man, een oude man, oude mannen
the old man, an old man, old men — de-word 'man', always -e.
Ik zoek een goedkope kamer in een rustige buurt.
I'm looking for a cheap room in a quiet neighbourhood. — kamer and buurt are de-words → goedkope, rustige, both with -e.
Build them yourself: klein + de stad → de kleine stad. nieuw + een fiets → een nieuwe fiets. lekker + de koffie → de lekkere koffie. All de-words, all -e.
Drill 2: het-words with a definite article or possessive — still -e
A het-word also takes -e in most of its forms. As long as it is definite — introduced by het, dit, dat, or a possessive (mijn, je, ons) — or plural, the adjective gets -e exactly like a de-word.
het grote huis, dit grote huis, mijn grote huis
the big house, this big house, my big house — het-word, but definite, so -e returns.
het oude boek, dat oude boek, grote huizen
the old book, that old book, big houses — definite or plural het-words → -e.
So three of the four het-word situations take -e. Only one combination is bare. That's drill 3.
Drill 3: the ONE bare cell — een + singular het-word
Here is the exception, and it is the entire difficulty of the rule. When the noun is a het-word, singular, with een (or geen, or no article at all), the adjective stays bare — no -e.
een mooi huis
a beautiful house — het-word 'huis', singular, with 'een' → BARE. Not 'een mooie huis'.
een groot probleem, een klein kind, een duur cadeau
a big problem, a small child, an expensive gift — all het-words with 'een', so all bare: groot, klein, duur.
Dat is geen goed idee.
That's not a good idea. — 'idee' is a het-word, 'geen' is indefinite → 'goed' stays bare.
Het is mooi weer vandaag.
The weather's nice today. — 'weer' is an article-less het-word → 'mooi' bare, not 'mooie weer'.
Watch what happens the instant the same het-word becomes definite — the -e snaps back:
een mooi huis → het mooie huis → dit mooie huis → ons mooie huis
a beautiful house → the beautiful house → this beautiful house → our beautiful house. Only the 'een' version is bare; everything definite takes -e.
Drill 4: after a verb, add NOTHING
The third line of the rule. When the adjective comes after a linking verb (zijn, worden, blijven, lijken) — describing the subject rather than sitting in front of a noun — it never inflects. No -e, ever, regardless of gender or number. This is the predicative position.
Het huis is mooi.
The house is beautiful. — after 'is' → no ending, even though 'huis' is a het-word.
De auto is groot en de huizen zijn duur.
The car is big and the houses are expensive. — predicative: groot, duur, both bare despite the de-word and the plural.
De koffie is lekker, maar hij wordt koud.
The coffee is nice, but it's getting cold. — after 'is' and 'wordt' → lekker, koud, no ending.
Compare the two positions side by side so the contrast is sharp: before the noun → maybe -e; after the verb → never -e.
een grote auto (before noun, -e) / De auto is groot. (after verb, bare)
a big car / The car is big. — same adjective, -e before the noun, nothing after the verb.
Build-it practice
Work through these. Cover the answer, build the form, then check.
| Adjective + phrase | Build it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| groot + een huis | een groot huis | het-word, een, singular → bare |
| groot + het huis | het grote huis | definite → -e |
| groot + een auto | een grote auto | de-word → -e |
| groot + huizen | grote huizen | plural → -e |
| Het huis is + groot | Het huis is groot | after verb → nothing |
een groot huis / het grote huis / een grote auto / grote huizen / Het huis is groot
a big house / the big house / a big car / big houses / The house is big — one adjective, all five environments. Only 'een groot huis' is bare before the noun.
Notice the canonical quartet hiding in that row: een grote auto / het grote huis / een groot huis / grote huizen. Three take -e; only een groot huis (the indefinite singular het-word) is bare. If you can produce those four cold, you own the rule.
Common Mistakes
❌ een grote huis
Incorrect — 'huis' is a het-word with 'een', so the adjective is bare: 'een groot huis'. Over-applying -e to the one cell that should stay bare.
✅ een groot huis
a big house.
❌ een mooi auto, de groot tafel
Incorrect — 'auto' and 'tafel' are de-words, which ALWAYS take -e: 'een mooie auto', 'de grote tafel'. Dropping the -e is the classic English-speaker error.
✅ een mooie auto, de grote tafel
a beautiful car, the big table.
❌ Het huis is groote.
Incorrect — after a verb the adjective never inflects: 'Het huis is groot'. Don't add -e in the predicative position.
✅ Het huis is groot.
The house is big.
❌ het mooi huis, dit groot huis
Incorrect — once the het-word is definite ('het', 'dit'), the -e comes back: 'het mooie huis', 'dit grote huis'. The bare form is only for indefinite singular.
✅ het mooie huis, dit grote huis
the beautiful house, this big house.
❌ groot huizen, mooi kinderen
Incorrect — every plural takes -e: 'grote huizen', 'mooie kinderen'. The bare form lives only in the singular.
✅ grote huizen, mooie kinderen
big houses, beautiful children.
Key Takeaways
- Before a noun: add -e — for every de-word, every definite het-word, and every plural.
- The one bare cell: a het-word, singular, with een / geen / no article → adjective stays bare (een mooi huis, mooi weer).
- Make it definite (het, dit, possessive) or plural and the -e returns (het mooie huis, mooie huizen).
- After a verb (predicative): add nothing, ever (het huis is mooi).
- Drill the canonical quartet — een grote auto / het grote huis / een groot huis / grote huizen — until it's reflex.
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The -e Rule and Its One Big ExceptionA1 — Before a noun, a Dutch adjective takes -e — always — with exactly one exception: a singular het-word introduced by een or no article keeps the adjective bare (een mooi huis). Master that one cell and the whole rule is yours.
- Predicate vs Attributive AdjectivesA1 — An adjective before a noun (attributive) may take -e; an adjective after a linking verb like zijn (predicate) never does. Recognising which slot you're in tells you instantly whether the -e rule even applies — and the predicate slot behaves exactly like English.
- De vs Het: The Definite ArticleA1 — Dutch has two words for 'the': het for neuter singular nouns only, and de for common-gender singulars and ALL plurals. The choice is fixed per noun and drags the demonstratives (dit/dat vs deze/die) and the adjective ending along with it — including the one place an adjective loses its -e: een mooi huis.
- De-words and Het-words: Noun GenderA1 — Dutch has a two-way gender system: common-gender de-words (about two-thirds of nouns, from the merged old masculine and feminine) and neuter het-words (a closed-ish minority worth memorising). Gender fixes the article, both demonstratives, the relative pronoun and the adjective ending — and the plural article is always de.
- Mistake: The Adjective -e EndingA2 — The #1 adjective error: when does a Dutch adjective take -e? The answer is 'almost always, attributively' — with one famous exception: a singular het-word with an indefinite article ('een mooi huis'). This page drills the rule with incorrect→correct pairs for every case.