Learn Dutch: Het nieuwe buurthuis is best gezellig. - The new community center is quite pleasant.

Het nieuwe buurthuis is best gezellig.

The new community center is quite pleasant.

Breakdown of Het nieuwe buurthuis is best gezellig.

quite / pretty (degree adverb)

Questions & Answers about Het nieuwe buurthuis is best gezellig.

Wait, doesn't 'best' mean 'best', like 'better and best'? Why is it translated as 'quite' here?

It can mean 'best', but when placed before an adjective like gezellig, best is used as an adverb of degree meaning 'quite' or 'pretty'. It often implies a mild, pleasant surprise. So here, the speaker is saying the community center is surprisingly or pleasantly cozy.

Since 'buurthuis' is a 'het' word, shouldn't it be 'het nieuw buurthuis' without the -e on 'nieuw'?

No, because you only drop the -e ending for het-words when they follow een (a/an) or have no article at all. Since we are using the definite article het (the), the adjective keeps the standard -e ending: het nieuwe buurthuis.

What exactly does 'gezellig' mean in the context of a building?

Gezellig is a famous Dutch word that is hard to translate with just one English word. While it often means 'sociable' or 'fun' for an event, for a place like a buurthuis it means the atmosphere is welcoming, warm, cozy, or pleasant to be in.

How do I know the gender of a compound word like 'buurthuis'?

Buurthuis combines de buurt (the neighborhood) and het huis (the house). In Dutch, compound words always take the gender of their final word. Because it is het huis, it becomes het buurthuis.