Breakdown of De liefhebber maakt een fotootje van het autootje.
een
a/an
de auto
the car
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
de liefhebber
the enthusiast
een foto maken
to take a photo
Questions & Answers about De liefhebber maakt een fotootje van het autootje.
Why do foto and auto get an extra 'o' in fotootje and autootje?
In Dutch, when a noun ends in a single, long open vowel (like 'a', 'o', or 'u'), you must double that vowel before adding the diminutive suffix -tje. If you just wrote fototje, the rules of spelling would make the 'o' sound short. Writing fotootje ensures it keeps the long 'o' sound.
Why does the sentence use maakt instead of a Dutch word for takes?
While in English you take a picture, the standard Dutch expression is to make a picture (een foto maken). So maakt een fotootje is the natural way to say takes a little photo. This is a common set phrase you just have to memorize.
Why does the sentence say het autootje when the base word is de auto?
All diminutive words in Dutch (words ending in -je, -tje, -pje, etc.) are neuter, meaning they always take the article het. It does not matter if the original noun was a de word. Because of this rule, both de auto and de foto become het autootje and het fotootje.
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