Adjectives of Potential with -baar
To describe whether a material can be reused, recycled, or repaired, Dutch uses the suffix -baar. You attach it to the stem of a verb to form an adjective meaning "able to be [verb]ed". This works exactly like the English suffixes "-able" and "-ible".
| As far as I know, this material is reusable. | Voor zover ik weet, is dit materiaal herbruikbaar. |
| The broken appliance is fortunately repairable. | Het kapotte apparaat is gelukkig repareerbaar. |
Adding the -e Ending
These derived words act just like normal Dutch adjectives. When you place a -baar adjective directly in front of a noun to describe it, you usually need to add the standard -e adjective ending.
| We are buying more and more reusable bottles. | We kopen steeds meer herbruikbare flessen. |
| I am looking for a washable blanket for the dog. | Ik zoek een wasbare deken voor de hond. |
| This car has a rechargeable battery. | Deze auto heeft een oplaadbare accu. |
Useful Sustainability Terms
This suffix is incredibly common when talking about sustainability, packaging, and the environment. You will see it used to express if waste can be separated (scheidbaar) or if a battery can be replaced (vervangbaar).
| All the cardboard is completely recyclable. | Al het karton is helemaal recyclebaar. |
| This plastic is unfortunately not degradable. | Dit plastic is helaas niet afbreekbaar. |
Note that some words might not translate word-for-word into an English "-able" equivalent, but the core logic of "possibility" remains the same. For example, houdbaar literally means "keepable," but is used to talk about the shelf life of food, and brandbaar translates to "flammable".
| This food can be kept for a very long time. | Dit voedsel is heel lang houdbaar. |
| Watch out, that material is enormously flammable! | Let op, dat materiaal is enorm brandbaar! |