Breakdown of De vergrote foto heeft een slechte resolutie.
een
a/an
hebben
to have
slecht
bad
de foto
the photo
vergroten
to enlarge
de resolutie
the resolution
Questions & Answers about De vergrote foto heeft een slechte resolutie.
Why is it vergrote with only one o and one t, instead of vergrootte?
The verb is vergroten (to enlarge). Its past participle is vergroot. When we use a past participle as an adjective before a noun, we add an -e (de vergrote foto). Because adding the -e puts the o in an open syllable (ver-gro-te), Dutch spelling rules dictate we must drop one o to keep the vowel sounding long. We don't add an extra t because we are just adding an -e to the base participle vergroot.
Wait, doesn't the past tense of vergroten have two o's and two t's? How do I tell them apart?
Yes, the simple past tense is vergrootte (e.g., ik vergrootte de foto - I enlarged the photo). That is formed using the verb stem (vergroot) plus the past tense ending (-te). But in this sentence, vergrote is an adjective describing the photo. Adjectives formed from past participles just take the participle (vergroot) and add a single -e, which triggers the spelling shift to vergrote.
Why doesn't the past participle vergroot start with ge-?
Verbs that start with an inseparable prefix like ver-, be-, ont-, or her- do not get an extra ge- in their past participle form. Since vergroten already starts with ver-, its past participle is simply vergroot.
Why does slecht get an -e ending here (een slechte) even though it comes after een?
You only drop the -e ending after een if the following noun is a neuter (het) word. The word resolutie is a de-word (de resolutie). For de-words, the adjective always gets the -e ending, regardless of whether you use de or een.
Learn De vergrote foto heeft een slechte resolutie and more in Dutch
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free