Questions & Answers about De cafés hier zijn klein.
Why is the plural cafés without an apostrophe, unlike words like foto's?
In Dutch, we usually add an apostrophe and an s to words ending in a single open vowel (like foto's or menu's) to keep the vowel sounding long. However, the word café already has an accent mark (é) that tells us exactly how to pronounce it. Because the accent secures the pronunciation, we just attach the -s directly.
I learned that plural words get the article de. Is the singular form de café?
No, the singular is actually het café. But remember that in Dutch, all plural nouns use the definite article de, even if they are a het word in the singular!
Why doesn't the adjective klein get an -e at the end for a plural noun?
You only add an -e to an adjective when it is placed directly before the noun it describes (for example: de kleine cafés). When the adjective comes later in the sentence after a verb like zijn (are), it stays in its basic dictionary form without the -e.
Why is hier placed right after cafés instead of at the end of the sentence?
Placing hier right after De cafés groups the words into a single subject phrase: "The cafes here". While Dutch word order can sometimes be flexible, keeping this subject block together before the verb zijn is the most natural way to build this sentence.
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