Breakdown of Wij zien het schilderij van de schilderes.
wij
we
zien
to see
het schilderij
the painting
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
Questions & Answers about Wij zien het schilderij van de schilderes.
How is the feminine word schilderes formed?
For professions ending in -er like schilder (painter), Dutch often adds the suffix -es to create the feminine form. This gives us schilderes.
How do the words schilderij and schilderes relate to each other?
They belong to the same word family, built from the verb schilderen (to paint). Schilder is a male painter or a general term for a painter, schilderes is specifically a female painter, and schilderij is a painting. Notice that the object is a neuter noun (het schilderij), while the nouns for people use de.
Why does van de schilderes mean 'by the female painter' rather than 'of' or 'from'?
When talking about the creator of a work of art, literature, or music, Dutch uses the preposition van. While it literally translates to 'the painting of the female painter', in natural English we say the painting is 'by' her.
If there were multiple female painters, how would I make schilderes plural?
The plural is schilderessen. When making nouns that end in -es plural, you add -en, but you must double the s to keep the preceding 'e' sounding short.