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Questions & Answers about De bomen zijn oud.
The singular of 'tree' is boom. Why is the plural bomen and not boomen?
When we add the regular -en ending, the word splits into syllables: bo-men. Because the first syllable now ends in a vowel (o), that vowel automatically gets a long sound. Writing two o's isn't necessary anymore, so Dutch drops one. You will see this spelling rule very often when making words plural!
Does the word for 'the' change when a noun becomes plural?
For plural words, the word for 'the' is always de. Even if a word uses het in its singular form, it will change to de in the plural. The singular is de boom, so it simply stays de for de bomen.
Why doesn't oud get an -e at the end here since the noun is plural?
When an adjective comes after the verb (like 'are old'), it never gets an extra -e ending. We only add the -e when the adjective comes directly before the noun, like in the phrase de oude bomen (the old trees).
Is zijn always used for 'are' with plurals?
Yes! Zijn is the plural form of the verb 'to be' (meaning 'are' for we, you all, and they). Since de bomen acts as a 'they', we use zijn.