ELONIO

Intensifying compound adjectives

Intensifying Compound Adjectives

In Dutch, you can amplify the meaning of an adjective by sticking a noun (or another modifying word) onto the front of it. These are known as elative compound adjectives, and they work exactly like English words such as "ice-cold" or "dirt-cheap".

These compounds behave just like normal adjectives. If they come directly before a noun, they take the usual -e ending according to the standard adjective rules.

Extreme Weather

When discussing weather and nature, Dutch has some very vivid compounds. For temperature, you can use bloedheet (literally "blood-hot" for boiling hot) and ijskoud (ice-cold).

In the summer, the city is boiling hot.
In de zomer is de stad bloedheet.
The wind was ice-cold, but we kept walking.
De wind was ijskoud, maar we bleven wandelen.

For moisture, you can use kletsnat (soaking wet, related to the sound of a splash) and kurkdroog (cork-dry, meaning bone-dry).

We cycled through the storm, so that we were soaking wet.
We fietsten door de storm, zodat we kletsnat waren.
The sand was already bone-dry, because it didn't rain.
Het zand was al kurkdroog, want het regende niet.

Prices and Possessions

Travel can be expensive, or you might find a great deal. Spotgoedkoop (mockingly cheap) means dirt-cheap, while peperduur (pepper-expensive, a term dating back to the Dutch spice trade) means exorbitantly expensive.

The hotel was neither dirt-cheap, nor exorbitantly expensive.
Het hotel was noch spotgoedkoop, noch peperduur.

If you buy something completely new, it is splinternieuw (splinter-new, or brand-new). Notice how these adjectives take an -e ending when placed directly before a noun:

That dirt-cheap restaurant unfortunately did not have brand-new chairs.
Dat spotgoedkope restaurant had helaas geen splinternieuwe stoelen.
The brand-new suitcase was unfortunately exorbitantly expensive.
De splinternieuwe koffer was helaas peperduur.

Extreme Experiences

During your trip, you might carry baggage that is loodzwaar (lead-heavy, meaning extremely heavy).

My suitcase was extremely heavy during the trip.
Mijn koffer was loodzwaar tijdens de reis.

You can also express extreme states or feelings. The prefix dood- (dead) is often used for strong emphasis, such as in doodmoe (dead tired) or doodeng (dead-scary, meaning terrifying).

The three of us were dead tired after the flight.
We waren met z'n drieën doodmoe na de vlucht.

Other common intense states include pikdonker (pitch-dark), kraakhelder (crystal clear), and razendsnel (lightning fast, literally "raging fast").

The cave was pitch-dark and the silence was terrifying.
De grot was pikdonker en de stilte was doodeng.
If the sky is crystal clear, we see the stars.
Indien de lucht kraakhelder is, zien we de sterren.
The weather changed lightning fast, so we got soaking wet.
Het weer veranderde razendsnel, dus we werden kletsnat.
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