In Dutch, you can turn many adjectives describing physical properties or dimensions into abstract nouns by adding the suffix -te (or occasionally -de). Because these are abstract nouns, they always take the definite article de.
Basic Dimensions
For most adjectives, you simply add -te to the end. For example, breed (wide) becomes de breedte (the width), hoog (high) becomes de hoogte (the height), and krap (tight) becomes de krapte (the shortage/tightness).
Note that a few common adjectives undergo a slight vowel change. Most notably, lang (long) becomes de lengte (the length).
| One always measures the length first, and then the width. | Men meet altijd eerst de lengte en dan de breedte. |
| We must check the height because of the limited space in the truck. | We moeten de hoogte controleren vanwege de krapte in de vrachtwagen. |
Adjectives ending in -t
If the root adjective already ends in a -t, adding the -te suffix results in a double -tt-. For instance, groot (large) becomes de grootte (the size).
| The length, the width, and the height determine the size. | De lengte, de breedte en de hoogte bepalen de grootte. |
| Attention is paid to the size of the boxes. | Er wordt gelet op de grootte van de dozen. |
Other Physical Properties
This same pattern applies to almost any physical property or condition you might encounter in logistics or daily life. You simply take the adjective and append -te:
- diep (deep) becomes de diepte (the depth)
- leeg (empty) becomes de leegte (the emptiness)
- dik (thick) becomes de dikte (the thickness)
- zwaar (heavy) becomes de zwaarte (the heaviness)
- warm (warm) becomes de warmte (the heat/warmth)
| The depth of the container is rather small. | De diepte van de container is tamelijk klein. |
| The thickness of this paper is actually quite good. | De dikte van dit papier is best goed. |
| The heaviness of the work is actually not that bad. | De zwaarte van het werk valt best mee. |
| The products have been damaged by the warmth. | De producten zijn beschadigd door de warmte. |