Breakdown of De dunne man draagt een lange jas.
de man
the man
de jas
the coat
dragen
to wear
lang
long
dun
thin
Questions & Answers about De dunne man draagt een lange jas.
Why does dun change to dunne instead of just dune?
When you add the -e ending to an adjective that has a short vowel followed by a single consonant (like dun), you have to double the consonant. If we wrote dune, the vowel sound would change to a long "u" sound. Doubling the "n" to dunne keeps the "u" sound short.
Why is it een lange jas with an -e added to lang? I thought adjectives after een don't get the -e ending.
You only leave off the -e ending after een if the noun is a het word. The word for coat is de jas. Because it is a de word, the adjective always gets the -e ending before it, even when using een.
Does the verb draagt mean the same thing as the English word "drag"?
No, although they look similar! Draagt comes from the verb dragen, which means "to wear" (for clothing) or "to carry". Here, it means the man is wearing a coat.
Could I say De man dunne instead of De dunne man?
No, in Dutch, adjectives that describe a noun directly must go right before the noun, just like in English. So "the thin man" translates exactly to de dunne man.
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