Breakdown of Zij draagt een heel schattig kettinkje.
zij
she
een
a/an
heel
very
dragen
to wear
schattig
cute
de ketting
the necklace
Questions & Answers about Zij draagt een heel schattig kettinkje.
Why is the diminutive of ketting spelled kettinkje instead of "kettingetje" or "kettingkje"?
The base word is ketting (necklace). Words ending in an unstressed -ing usually take the -kje suffix. When you add -kje, the g at the end of the word drops out and changes to a k to make it easier to pronounce, giving us kettinkje.
Why is the adjective schattig (cute) written without an -e at the end?
All diminutives in Dutch are het words, so it is het kettinkje. When a het word comes after the word een (a), the adjective before it loses its -e ending. If you used "the" instead of "a", it would get the ending back: het schattige kettinkje.
Why is it heel (very) and not hele?
In this sentence, heel is an adverb modifying the adjective schattig, telling us exactly how cute it is. Adverbs do not get an -e ending.
The English translation says "is wearing." Why doesn't the Dutch sentence use a continuous form like "is aan het dragen"?
In Dutch, you generally use the simple present tense for wearing clothes and accessories. Zij draagt naturally translates to both "She wears" and "She is wearing."
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