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### The Diminutive Suffix **-je**

Dutch speakers love diminutives! They are used to make things sound small, cute, casual, or friendly. You will hear them constantly, especially when talking about food, drinks, or ordering in a café.

To form a basic diminutive, simply add **-je** to the end of a noun.

Crucially, **all singular diminutives are *het* words**, regardless of the original noun's gender. For example, *de kop* (the cup) becomes *het kopje*.

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### Plural Diminutives: **-jes**

To make a diminutive plural, simply add **-s** to get **-jes**.

Just like all plural nouns in Dutch, plural diminutives always take the definite article **de**, even though their singular form uses **het**.

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### Portions and New Meanings

Sometimes a diminutive is used so often that it becomes the standard way to refer to a single portion or item. For example, *het ijs* means ice cream in general, but *een ijsje* is a single serving of ice cream. Similarly, *het snoep* is candy in general, but *een snoepje* is one piece of candy.

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Diminutives (-je)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

determiner/pronoun

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (de, het)

Indefinite article and formal 'you' (een, u)

Big and small (groot, klein)

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)

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)

Past tense of modal verbs (wilde, kon, moest, mocht)

Question	Answer
the cup	de kop
please	alstublieft
I want a cup of coffee, please.	Ik wil een kopje koffie, alstublieft.
The waiter takes two cups of tea.	De ober pakt twee kopjes thee.
A drink, please.	Een drankje, alstublieft.
the cake	de taart
We order a little cake in the café.	We bestellen een taartje in het café.
Is the cake tasty?	Is de taart lekker?
the piece	het stuk
I want a piece of cake, please.	Ik wil een stukje taart, alstublieft.
We are eating four pieces of cheese.	We eten vier stukjes kaas.
the plate	het bord
I see a small plate on the table.	Ik zie een bordje op de tafel.
Where are the plates?	Waar zijn de borden?
the bottle	de fles
Do you have a small bottle of water?	Heeft u een flesje water?
I see two bottles on the table.	Ik zie twee flessen op de tafel.
the ice cream	het ijs
The child is eating an ice cream.	Het kind eet een ijsje.
We are buying three ice creams.	We kopen drie ijsjes.
the juice	het sap
Where is the small juice?	Waar is het sapje?
The boy drinks no juice.	De jongen drinkt geen sap.
sweet	zoet
The small juice is sweet.	Het sapje is zoet.
The little cakes are not sweet.	De taartjes zijn niet zoet.
the candy	het snoep
The girl wants a candy.	Het meisje wil een snoepje.
We have no candies at home.	We hebben thuis geen snoepjes.