Breakdown of De smeden maken gouden ringen voor het hof van de goden.
maken
to make
voor
for (on behalf of)
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
de ring
the ring
Questions & Answers about De smeden maken gouden ringen voor het hof van de goden.
The singular of smeden is smid. Why does the vowel change so much?
This is a highly irregular plural. Not only does the word get the standard -en ending, but the short i in smid completely changes to a long e sound in smeden. It follows the exact same rare pattern as schip (ship) turning into schepen.
Is goden also an irregular plural?
Yes! The singular is god (with a short o sound). In the plural goden, the vowel stretches into a long o sound. Even though it is spelled with just one o, it sounds long because it sits at the end of the first syllable (go-den). This follows the same short-to-long vowel shift as dag to dagen.
Why does the adjective gouden end in -en instead of just -e?
Adjectives that describe what material something is made of almost always get an -en ending in Dutch, regardless of the noun's gender. Because the rings are made of gold (goud), the adjective becomes gouden. You will also see this with words like houten (wooden) or zilveren (silver).
Why is it het hof and not de hof?