Questions & Answers about Een cadeau met een grote strik is iets bijzonders.
Why does bijzonders have an -s at the end?
After words like iets (something), niets (nothing), wat (some), or veel (much), the adjective describing them gets an extra -s. So the adjective bijzonder (special) becomes bijzonders because it comes right after iets.
Why is it grote strik instead of groot strik?
Because strik (bow) is a de-word (de strik). When an adjective comes before a noun, it usually gets an -e added to it. The only time it does not get an -e is when it is a het-word preceded by een or no article at all. Since strik is a de-word, groot always gets the -e to become grote.
Why does groot lose an 'o' when it turns into grote?
This is due to Dutch spelling rules. When you add the -e, the word splits into syllables as gro-te. Because the first syllable ends in a vowel (an 'open syllable'), that vowel automatically sounds long. Writing two o's would be unnecessary, so groot drops one 'o' to become grote.
I notice cadeau looks French. How is it treated in Dutch?