Breakdown of Mijn duimpje is een beetje blauw.
zijn
to be
een beetje
a bit
mijn
my
blauw
blue
de duim
the thumb
Questions & Answers about Mijn duimpje is een beetje blauw.
Why is the diminutive for duim formed with -pje instead of just -je?
Words ending in the letter m get the suffix -pje to make pronunciation easier. Without the p, duimje would be awkward to say. So, duim (thumb) becomes duimpje.
Is beetje also a diminutive in this sentence?
Yes! Beetje is the diminutive of beet (a bite). Here, een beetje is a fixed phrase that means "a bit" or "a little," just like in English when we say "a little bit."
If I wanted to say "the little thumb," would I use de or het?
You would use het duimpje. In Dutch, all diminutive words (words ending in -je, -tje, -pje, etc.) are always het words, even if the original noun was a de word (like de duim).
Why doesn't blauw get an -e ending here (like blauwe)?
Because blauw comes after the verb is and describes the noun later in the sentence. You only add the -e ending when the adjective comes directly before the noun it describes, like in het blauwe duimpje (the blue little thumb).
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