Word
Wij verkopen elke postzegel en ieder bordspel.
Meaning
We sell every postage stamp and every board game.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Wij verkopen elke postzegel en ieder bordspel.
Why are both elke and ieder used in this sentence?
They are exact synonyms that both mean "every" or "each". The sentence mixes them just to provide variety and avoid repeating the same word, which is very common in Dutch.
Why does elke have an -e at the end, but ieder does not?
This happens because of noun genders. Postzegel is a de-word, so the adjective must take an -e ending, making it elke (or iedere). Bordspel is a het-word, so the adjective drops the -e when used without an article, giving us elk or ieder.
How can I easily remember the gender of compound words like postzegel and bordspel?
Compound nouns in Dutch always take the gender of their very last part. Because it is de zegel (the seal/stamp) and het spel (the game), the combined words naturally become de postzegel and het bordspel.