Breakdown of Hij leest een makkelijk boek.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
een
a/an
het boek
the book
lezen
to read
makkelijk
easy
Questions & Answers about Hij leest een makkelijk boek.
Why doesn't makkelijk have an -e at the end here?
This is the main rule for this lesson! boek is a neuter noun (a het word). When a singular het word comes after een (a/an), the adjective describing it does not get an -e ending.
Would the adjective change if the sentence was about "the easy book" instead of "an easy book"?
Yes! If you use the specific article het (the) instead of een (a), the adjective gets its -e back. You would say het makkelijke boek. The dropped -e only happens with een or when there is no article at all.
Why does the translation say "is reading" instead of "reads"?
Dutch doesn't have a separate tense for things happening right now (like the English "is doing"). The present tense Hij leest translates to both "He reads" and "He is reading" depending on the context.
How do you pronounce the -lijk ending in makkelijk?
The letters -lijk at the end of a word are always pronounced like "luk" (with a short, relaxed "uh" sound, like the "a" in "about"). It is not pronounced like the English word "like".
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