Word
Wie drinkt de minste koffie?
Meaning
Who drinks the least coffee?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Wie drinkt de minste koffie?
Where does the word minste come from?
It is the superlative (the highest or lowest degree) form of weinig (little or few). The irregular pattern you need to memorize is weinig (little), minder (less), and minst (least).
Why does minste get an -e at the end here?
Because it acts as an adjective placed directly in front of the noun koffie. Just like regular adjectives, superlatives usually get an extra -e when they come directly before a noun.
English uses "least" for coffee but "fewest" for countable things. Does Dutch have a separate word for "fewest"?
No, Dutch makes this much easier! You use minste for both uncountable nouns like koffie (least coffee) and countable nouns like cups or cookies (fewest cookies).
Why does drinkt end in a -t when we don't know who is drinking?
When wie (who) is the subject of a question, you always conjugate the verb in the third-person singular form. You treat it exactly the same as if the subject was hij (he) or zij (she).