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### Past Participles as Adjectives

When you use a past participle to describe a noun (as an attributive adjective), it usually gets an **-e** ending, just like regular adjectives. Because you are adding a syllable, standard Dutch spelling rules for open and closed syllables apply, which can cause vowels and consonants to shift.

### Dropping Double Vowels

If the past participle has a long vowel spelled with double letters (like **aa**, **ee**, **oo**, or **uu**), adding **-e** makes the syllable "open". To maintain the long vowel sound, you drop one of the written vowels. 

For example, **vergroten** (to enlarge) has the past participle **vergroot**. As an adjective, it becomes **vergrote** (not *vergrootte*, which is the simple past tense).

{{item:824694}}

Similarly, **verhogen** (to increase) -> **verhoogd** -> **verhoogde**:

{{item:824701}}

### Regular Additions

For many verbs, adding the **-e** doesn't require any vowel or consonant shifts. You simply attach it directly to the end of the past participle. 

For instance, **wissen** (to delete) -> **gewist** -> **gewiste**:

{{item:824703}}

This also applies to longer verbs like **comprimeren** (to compress) -> **gecomprimeerd** -> **gecomprimeerde**:

{{item:824718}}

### Doubling Consonants

If the past participle ends in a single consonant immediately after a short vowel, adding **-e** would change the vowel sound. To keep the vowel short, you must double the final consonant. 

Take the verb **redden** (to save). Its past participle is **gered**. To add the **-e**, you double the **d**, making it **geredde**. Notice how both grammar rules appear in the next sentence:

{{item:824719}}

### Vocabulary in Context

As you practice these spelling shifts, you will also see them applied frequently with photography and digital media vocabulary.

{{item:824714}}

Adjectival past participles (de vergrote foto)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

determiner/pronoun

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular pronouns and 'to be' (ik ben, hij is)

The formal 'you' (u bent)

Definite articles (de, het)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (wij zijn)

The verb 'to have' (hebben)

Basic word order

Numbers 1 to 10 (een, twee, drie)

Verb stems and the 'I' form (ik werk)

Long vowels in verb stems (maken, ik maak)

Short vowels in verb stems (zitten, ik zit)

Present tense singular (-t)

Present tense plural (-en)

Yes/no questions

Question words (wie, wat, waar)

Noun negation (geen)

Plural nouns (-en)

Plural nouns (-s)

Diminutives (-je)

Adjective modifiers (heel, erg, te)

Verb negation (niet)

Singular possessives (mijn, jouw, zijn, haar)

Plural and formal possessives (ons/onze, jullie, hun, uw)

This and these (deze, dit)

That and those (die, dat)

Asking which (welke, welk)

Numbers 11 to 20 (elf, twaalf, dertien...)

Tens and compound numbers (dertig, veertig...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (eerste, tweede...)

Telling time: hours and half hours (uur, half)

Telling time: quarters (kwart over, kwart voor)

Question words (hoeveel, waarom)

Irregular verbs (doen, gaan, staan, zien, komen)

Adjective endings (+e)

Adjectives with 'het' words

Prepositions of place (uit, bij)

Subject-verb inversion

Time before place

Modal verbs (willen, kunnen)

Modal verbs (moeten, mogen)

The verb bracket

Separable prefix verbs

The imperative mood (kom, luister)

Singular object pronouns (mij, jou, hem, haar)

Plural and formal object pronouns (ons, jullie, hen, u)

Reflexive verbs and pronouns (zich, me, je)

Position of negation (niet)

The present perfect tense with regular verbs (hebben gewerkt)

The present perfect tense with motion verbs (zijn gegaan)

Irregular past participles (gezien, gedaan)

The present continuous (zijn aan het)

There is / there are (er is, er zijn)

Unstressed there (er)

And, but, or (en, maar, of)

Because (want)

Months of the year

Prepositions of time (om, van ... tot)

Greetings and politeness

Conversational glue

Prepositions with days (op)

Prepositions with seasons (in)

Genitive of time ('s morgens, 's nachts)

Adverbs of frequency (altijd, vaak)

The future tense (gaan)

The future tense (zullen)

Separable verbs with auxiliary verbs

Apostrophe plurals ('-s)

Irregular plurals (-eren)

Complex diminutives (-pje, -etje, -kje)

Possessive 's (Jan's, vaders)

Indefinite pronouns (iets, niemand, alles)

Indefinite subject pronoun (je)

Reciprocal pronoun (elkaar)

Comparative adjectives (-er dan)

Comparatives with spelling change (-der)

Superlative adjectives (-st)

Irregular comparisons (beter, meer, minder)

Expressing preference (graag, liever, het liefst)

Equality comparisons (even ... als)

Fixed prepositions

That clauses (dat)

Because clauses (omdat)

If and when clauses (als)

Inversion after clauses

Separable verbs in clauses

Negation in clauses (niet)

Past tense of to be (was / waren)

Past tense of to have (had / hadden)

Question	Answer
the background	de achtergrond
The enlarged photo has an ugly background.	De vergrote foto heeft een lelijke achtergrond.
the foreground	de voorgrond
We will change the foreground of the photo.	Wij zullen de voorgrond van de foto veranderen.
The dog in the foreground is very sharp.	De hond op de voorgrond is heel scherp.
the brightness	de helderheid
The lowered brightness is better for your eyes.	De verlaagde helderheid is beter voor je ogen.
the sharpness	de scherpte
I like the increased sharpness in this portrait.	Ik houd van de verhoogde scherpte in dit portret.
the video	de video
The deleted video was fortunately not important.	De gewiste video was gelukkig niet belangrijk.
digital	digitaal
Since we work digitally, we don't need paper.	Aangezien we digitaal werken, hebben we geen papier nodig.
Every digital file has a certain size.	Elk digitaal bestand heeft een bepaalde grootte.
the resolution	de resolutie
The enlarged photo has a bad resolution.	De vergrote foto heeft een slechte resolutie.
the pixel	de pixel
You can see every square pixel well.	Je kunt elke vierkante pixel goed zien.
The lowered resolution causes fewer pixels.	De verlaagde resolutie zorgt voor minder pixels.
to blur	vervagen
Since the sun shone, the color faded.	Aangezien de zon scheen, vervaagde de kleur.
The blurred background gives a calm effect.	De vervaagde achtergrond geeft een rustig effect.
I do not find the blurred pixels beautiful.	Ik vind de vervaagde pixels niet mooi.
to compress	comprimeren
We will unfortunately compress the large video.	We zullen de grote video helaas comprimeren.
The compressed video is much smaller.	De gecomprimeerde video is veel kleiner.
The saved document had a compressed attachment.	Het geredde document had een gecomprimeerde bijlage.
You can change the brightness and the sharpness yourself.	Je kunt de helderheid en de scherpte zelf veranderen.