Word
Het water is koud.
Meaning
The water is cold.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
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Questions & Answers about Het water is koud.
Why doesn't koud get an -e added to the end here?
When an adjective comes after the noun it describes (connected by a verb like is), it never gets an extra -e. This is called a predicative adjective. It stays in its basic, uninflected form, so it is just koud.
How would I change this sentence to say the water is "very" cold?
You can add heel or erg right before the adjective. For example, Het water is heel koud or Het water is erg koud. Both are very common ways to say "very" in Dutch.
What if the water is "too" cold or just "a little bit" cold?
Just like in English, you place the modifier right before the adjective. You would say Het water is te koud for "too cold", and Het water is een beetje koud for "a little bit cold".
Why does this sentence use Het instead of De?
Water is a neuter noun in Dutch. Singular neuter nouns always use het for "the" instead of de. It is a great basic rule to remember that it is always het water.