Questions & Answers about Mijn oma kocht een splinternieuwe auto.
What exactly does splinternieuwe mean literally, and how is it formed?
Splinternieuw is an elative compound adjective used to emphasize that something is extremely new. It literally translates to "splinter-new" (like a freshly cut piece of wood). In English, the equivalent is "brand-new". Like other elative compounds, it takes a noun (splinter) and attaches it directly to the front of an adjective (nieuw) to intensify it.
Why does splinternieuwe have an -e at the end?
Even though it is a long compound word, it still follows the standard rules for adjective endings. Auto is a de-word (de auto). When an adjective comes before a de-word, it always gets an -e ending, even after the indefinite article een. If the noun had been a het-word (like het bed), it would just be een splinternieuw bed without the -e.
Are there other intensifying prefixes I can use with nieuw besides splinter?
Yes! Another very common elative compound for nieuw is gloednieuw (literally "glow-new"). Both splinternieuw and gloednieuw mean "brand-new" and can be used interchangeably in Dutch.
Do I always write elative compounds like splinternieuw as one solid word?