Questions & Answers about De vrouw koopt wol en een zilveren ketting.
Why is the word for silver zilveren instead of just zilvere?
Because zilver is a material. In Dutch, adjectives that describe what something is made of get a fixed -en ending. Unlike normal adjectives that usually just get an -e, material adjectives like zilveren (silver), houten (wooden), or gouden (golden) almost always end in -en.
Does the -en ending on zilveren change depending on the gender of the noun?
No, it does not! Normal adjectives sometimes drop their ending when used with een and a het word, but material adjectives are rule-breakers. They always keep their -en suffix, regardless of whether the noun is a de word (like de ketting) or a het word.
Wol (wool) is also a material. Why does it not have an -en ending in this sentence?
In this sentence, wol is being used as a noun because it is the actual item the woman is buying. The -en ending is only added when the material is used as an adjective to describe something else. If she were buying a woolen sweater, it would be an adjective: een wollen trui.
The English translation says 'is buying', but the Dutch sentence just uses koopt. Why?