Questions & Answers about De dikke kat eet veel.
Why do we add an '-e' to make the word dikke instead of just using dik?
When an adjective comes right before a noun like kat, it usually gets an -e added to the end. Because kat uses the de article (de kat), the adjective describing it must take this -e ending.
Why is dikke spelled with two 'k's?
The basic word is dik, which has a short 'i' sound. If we just added an -e to make dike, the Dutch spelling rules would make the 'i' stretch into a long vowel sound. We double the 'k' to trap that 'i' and keep it sounding short.
The dictionary form of 'to eat' is eten. Why does it become eet here instead of adding a '-t' for 'the cat'?
For a 'he, she, or it' subject like de kat, you usually take the stem of the verb and add a -t. The stem of eten is eet. Because it already ends in a 't', we do not add a second one. Dutch never puts two 't's at the end of a word.
Can veel mean both 'many' and 'a lot'?
Yes! Veel translates to 'much', 'many', or 'a lot' depending on the sentence. Here it describes how much the cat eats, so 'a lot' is the most natural English translation.