Word
De diepte van de container is tamelijk klein.
Meaning
The depth of the container is rather small.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De diepte van de container is tamelijk klein.
zijn
to be
klein
small
van
from (possession, starting point) / made of
de container
the dumpster / the (shipping) container
Questions & Answers about De diepte van de container is tamelijk klein.
How is the word diepte formed from the adjective?
Diepte (depth) is formed by adding the suffix -te to the adjective diep (deep), which turns the physical property into a noun. Unlike some other measurements (like lang becoming lengte), the vowel in diep stays exactly the same.
Why do we say the depth is klein rather than using the word for "shallow"?
When the subject of your sentence is a specific measurement noun like diepte, lengte, or breedte, Dutch usually describes that measurement as groot (large) or klein (small). If you wanted to use the word for shallow (ondiep), you would apply it to the object itself: De container is tamelijk ondiep.
What is the nuance of tamelijk here compared to best or vrij?
Tamelijk means "rather" or "fairly." It is slightly more formal and precise than best (which is more like "pretty" or "quite" in casual speech). You could also easily use vrij here (vrij klein), as it carries almost exactly the same meaning and register as tamelijk.
Could I say De container's diepte to mean "The container's depth"?