Personal Evaluations with "te"
To express that something is "too" much of a certain quality for someone—like being too expensive for you, or too heavy for her—Dutch uses a simple dative construction. You place an object pronoun (such as me, je, hem, haar, or ons) immediately before te ("too") and an evaluative adjective.
| This gemstone is too expensive for me. | Deze edelsteen is me te duur. |
This pattern works seamlessly with all personal object pronouns to express subjective opinions:
| That pearl is too heavy for her. | Die parel is haar te zwaar. |
| Is this golden bracelet too heavy for you? | Is deze gouden armband je te zwaar? |
Gemstones and Jewelry
When browsing for fine jewelry, you will encounter various gemstones that are often cut (geslepen, from the verb slijpen) to make them sparkle (fonkelen).
| The cut gemstone is too small for him. | De geslepen edelsteen is hem te klein. |
| The green emerald is too flashy for us. | De groene smaragd is ons te opvallend. |
Other popular precious stones include the ruby (de robijn) and the sapphire (de saffier). You can continue to use the dative evaluation structure to express your opinion on their color, their weight in carats (het karaat), or how tasteful (smaakvol) they are.
| That ruby is too dark for me. | Die robijn is me te donker. |
| The blue sapphire is too large for him. | De blauwe saffier is hem te groot. |
| One carat is too small for me. | Eén karaat is me te klein. |
| A tasteful gemstone is never too expensive for him. | Een smaakvolle edelsteen is hem nooit te duur. |