Breakdown of De hond is groot, maar de kat is klein.
zijn
to be
groot
big
klein
small
de hond
the dog
maar
but
de kat
the cat
Questions & Answers about De hond is groot, maar de kat is klein.
Why do both hond and kat use de instead of het for "the"?
In Dutch, every noun has a gender that decides if it uses de or het. Words for animals, like hond (dog) and kat (cat), are almost always de words.
Why are the adjectives groot and klein used without an extra -e at the end?
When an adjective comes after the verb, like in is groot (is big), it stays in its basic form. You only add an -e when the adjective comes directly before the noun, like in de grote hond.
Does the word maar (but) change the word order in the second half of the sentence?
No. The word maar simply connects two complete, normal sentences together. The second part, de kat is klein, keeps the standard subject-verb order just like the first part.
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