Breakdown of Wij hebben twee rode paraplu's nodig.
wij
we
hebben
to have
twee
two
nodig
needed
rood
red
de paraplu
the umbrella
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben twee rode paraplu's nodig.
Why does paraplu's have an apostrophe before the -s?
The word paraplu ends in a single, open vowel (u). If we just added an s to make paraplus, the Dutch pronunciation rules would make the u sound short (like in the English word "bus"). To keep the long vowel sound of the original word, we use an apostrophe before the -s.
Why is the concept of "need" split into hebben and nodig?
The Dutch translation for "to need" is the phrase nodig hebben (literally: to have necessary). In a normal main clause, the verb hebben takes the second position, while nodig gets pushed all the way to the end of the sentence.
Why is the adjective rode instead of rood?
Because it comes right before a noun, and that noun (paraplu's) is plural. In Dutch, adjectives placed before plural nouns almost always get an -e added to the end.
When adding the -e to rood, why does it lose an o to become rode?
This happens because of Dutch spelling rules about syllables. Rood has a long "o" sound. When you add the -e, the word splits into syllables: ro-de. Because the first syllable now ends in a vowel, the "o" is automatically pronounced long. Writing roode would be redundant!
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