Word
De baby heeft een schattig duimpje.
Meaning
The baby has a cute little thumb.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about De baby heeft een schattig duimpje.
Why is the diminutive suffix -pje here instead of just -je?
The base word is duim (thumb), which ends in the letter -m. In Dutch, words ending in -m (after a long vowel or a combination like ui) get the -pje suffix. Adding the extra "p" sound makes it much easier to pronounce than duimje!
Why is it een schattig duimpje without an -e at the end of schattig?
Because every diminutive in Dutch is a het word. When a het word is preceded by een (a/an), the adjective in front of it drops its -e ending. If we didn't use the diminutive, it would be een schattige duim, because the base word duim is a de word.
Since diminutives are always het words, why does the sentence start with De baby?
Only the noun with the actual diminutive suffix changes its gender to het (so it is het duimpje). The word baby doesn't have a diminutive suffix here, so it keeps its normal gender, which is de.