Once you can recognise how Dutch builds adjectives, your reading vocabulary expands faster than your study time. A handful of productive suffixes turn nouns and verbs into adjectives, and several of them line up so neatly with English equivalents that you can often guess the word before you have learned it: -baar is English -able, -loos is -less, -achtig is -ish. The general-purpose suffixes -ig and -lijk build a huge share of everyday adjectives, and the remaining few (-isch, -zaam, -s) round out the set. Crucially, every adjective built this way is a normal adjective and inflects normally — it takes -e in exactly the situations any adjective does.
The three that map onto English
These three are the easiest to internalise because they translate a known English suffix one-to-one.
-baar = English -able / -ible
-baar attaches to a verb stem and means "able to be [verb]ed." Eten (to eat) → eetbaar (edible, eat-able); lezen (to read) → leesbaar (legible, read-able); betalen (to pay) → betaalbaar (affordable). The logic is identical to English -able, so once you know the verb you can usually build the adjective.
Deze paddenstoelen zijn niet eetbaar.
These mushrooms aren't edible. eet- (from eten) + -baar = eat-able.
Zijn handschrift is amper leesbaar.
His handwriting is barely legible. lees- (from lezen) + -baar = read-able.
We zoeken een betaalbare flat in de stad.
We're looking for an affordable flat in the city. 'Betaalbaar' inflects normally → 'betaalbare'.
-loos = English -less
-loos attaches to a noun and means "without [noun]." Zin (sense/point) → zinloos (pointless, sense-less); werk (work) → werkloos (unemployed, work-less); dak (roof) → dakloos (homeless, roof-less); hoop (hope) → hopeloos (hopeless). Note the stress and a sometimes-changing vowel (hoop → hope-loos), but the meaning is reliably "-less."
Het heeft geen zin — dit is volkomen zinloos.
There's no point — this is completely pointless. zin + -loos = sense-less.
Na de fabriekssluiting werden honderden mensen werkloos.
After the factory closed, hundreds of people became unemployed. werk + -loos = work-less.
-achtig = English -ish / -like
-achtig means "resembling, somewhat, -ish." On a colour or adjective it softens it (rood → roodachtig, reddish); on a noun it means "like a ..." (kind → kinderachtig, childish; reus → reusachtig, gigantic, "giant-like"). It is the go-to suffix for approximations.
De lucht had een roodachtige gloed.
The sky had a reddish glow. rood + -achtig = red-ish. Inflected: roodachtige.
Doe niet zo kinderachtig.
Don't be so childish. kind + -achtig (with linking -er-) = child-ish.
The two general workhorses: -ig and -lijk
These two have no single English equivalent — they are all-purpose adjective makers, like a generalised -y or -ly. They build an enormous slice of everyday vocabulary.
-ig attaches mostly to nouns and means roughly "characterised by, full of, -y": zon → zonnig (sunny), hand → handig (handy, clever), honger → hongerig (hungry), moed → moedig (brave). Note the doubled consonant when needed (zon → zonnig) to keep the vowel short.
Het wordt vandaag zonnig en droog.
It'll be sunny and dry today. zon + -ig = sunny (note the doubled n).
Wat handig dat je een schroevendraaier bij je hebt.
How handy that you've got a screwdriver on you. hand + -ig = handy/clever.
-lijk attaches to nouns, verbs, and adjectives and is the rough counterpart of English -ly in its adjective sense, plus -able/-ous: vriend → vriendelijk (friendly), mogen/mogelijk → mogelijk (possible), natuur → natuurlijk (natural / of course), gevaar → gevaarlijk (dangerous). Beware the false friend trap: -lijk is not English -ful. "Helpful" is behulpzaam, not helplijk; "useful" is nuttig — and don't reach for gebruikelijk, which exists but means "customary/usual," not "useful."
De buren zijn heel vriendelijk.
The neighbours are very friendly. vriend + -lijk = friendly.
Is het mogelijk om de afspraak te verzetten?
Is it possible to move the appointment? mogen → mogelijk = possible.
Natuurlijk help ik je even.
Of course I'll help you. natuur + -lijk = natural / of course.
The rest: -isch, -zaam, -s
-isch (pronounced "-ees," like English -ic) builds adjectives from borrowed and abstract stems: logica → logisch (logical), magie → magisch (magical), technologie → technologisch (technological). It maps onto English -ic / -ical.
Dat klinkt logisch, maar het klopt niet.
That sounds logical, but it isn't right. logica → logisch = logical.
-zaam means "inclined to, prone to": werk → werkzaam (industrious / active), sparen → spaarzaam (thrifty), vrede → vreedzaam (peaceful), buigen → buigzaam (flexible). It is closest to English -some (as in troublesome).
Mijn opa was zijn hele leven spaarzaam.
My grandfather was thrifty his whole life. sparen → spaarzaam = thrifty/sparing.
-s builds adjectives of origin and material from place names and a few nouns: Amsterdam → Amsterdams (of Amsterdam), Nederland → Nederlands (Dutch), hout → houten (wooden — note this one uses -en, the material suffix). The -s place adjectives are written lowercase when used attributively (een Amsterdams accent).
Ze heeft een licht Amsterdams accent.
She has a slight Amsterdam accent. Amsterdam + -s = of-Amsterdam.
They all inflect normally
A derived adjective is still an adjective: it follows the ordinary inflection rule, taking -e before a noun in the usual situations (with de-words, definite het-words, and after most determiners) and dropping it only on an indefinite het-word.
een leesbaar boek / het leesbare boek
a legible book / the legible book. Indefinite het-word → no -e; definite → -e. Standard inflection.
een zonnige dag / de zonnige dagen
a sunny day / the sunny days. de-word → -e in both.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hij is heel helplijk.
Incorrect — '-lijk' is not English '-ful'; there's no word 'helplijk'.
✅ Hij is heel behulpzaam.
He's very helpful. 'Helpful' is 'behulpzaam', not '-lijk'.
❌ Deze bessen zijn niet eetloos.
Incorrect — '-loos' means -less, not -able; this says 'eat-less'.
✅ Deze bessen zijn niet eetbaar.
These berries aren't edible. '-baar' = -able.
❌ Doe niet zo kinderachtige.
Incorrect — predicative adjective takes no ending.
✅ Doe niet zo kinderachtig.
Don't be so childish. As a predicate (after 'zo'), no -e.
❌ een zonige dag
Incorrect — spelling; the short vowel needs a doubled consonant.
✅ een zonnige dag
a sunny day — zon + -ig doubles the n: zonnig.
❌ Dat is heel logiek.
Incorrect — the adjective suffix is '-isch', not the noun-like '-iek'.
✅ Dat is heel logisch.
That's very logical. The adjective is 'logisch' (-isch = -ic/-ical).
Key Takeaways
- Three suffixes map cleanly onto English: -baar = -able (eetbaar), -loos = -less (werkloos), -achtig = -ish (roodachtig).
- -ig and -lijk are the all-purpose workhorses (zonnig, handig; vriendelijk, mogelijk). Watch the false friend: -lijk is not -ful ("helpful" = behulpzaam).
- -isch = -ic/-ical (logisch), -zaam ≈ -some/prone-to (spaarzaam), -s builds origin adjectives (Amsterdams).
- Mind the spelling: short vowels double the consonant before -ig (zon → zonnig).
- Every derived adjective inflects normally — it takes -e in exactly the same situations as any other adjective.
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