Questions & Answers about Ik lees het eerste boek.
How is the ordinal number "first" formed here? I know the number one is een.
Just like in English (one into first), the Dutch word for "first" is an exception. Instead of adding a standard ending to een, the word changes completely to eerste.
Why is there an -e at the end of eerste?
Ordinal numbers act like adjectives when they describe a noun. Because it comes right before the noun boek, it takes the -e ending, just like a regular adjective.
Boek is a het word. Don't adjectives usually drop the -e with het words?
They only drop the -e when you use the indefinite article een (a/an) or no article at all, like in een mooi boek (a beautiful book). Because we are using the definite article het (the) here, the word keeps its -e.
The dictionary says "to read" is lezen. Why is it spelled lees here?
When making the "I" form, we take off the -en ending from the verb. That leaves "lez", but Dutch words never end in a z, so it changes to an s. We also double the vowel to ee to keep the long sound, giving us lees.
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