Breakdown of Kiezen we de kaki tas of de lila tas?
de tas
the bag
kiezen
to choose
of
or
we
we (unstressed form of wij)
kaki
khaki
lila
lilac
Questions & Answers about Kiezen we de kaki tas of de lila tas?
Why don't kaki and lila get an -e at the end, since tas is a de word?
Normally, an adjective before a de noun gets an -e ending (like de mooie tas). However, kaki and lila belong to a special group of invariable adjectives. Adjectives that end in certain vowels, especially colors and loanwords like roze, lila, kaki, or prima, never get an -e added to them.
Why is it spelled kaki without the 'h' we use in the English word 'khaki'?
Dutch often adjusts the spelling of loanwords to match its own phonetic rules. The 'kh' spelling in English represents a sound that Dutch doesn't distinguish from a regular k, so the spelling is simply adapted to kaki.
Are the vowels in kaki and lila pronounced as short or long vowels?
They are long vowels. Even though they are loanwords, they follow the standard Dutch open syllable rule. When you break them into syllables (ka-ki, li-la), every syllable ends in a single vowel, making all of those vowels long.
Do all color adjectives ending in a vowel behave like kaki and lila?
Almost all of them do. Colors like roze (pink), oranje (orange), and bordeaux (burgundy) are also invariable and skip the -e ending. Just be careful not to confuse this with native Dutch colors that get an -e under normal grammar rules, such as geel becoming de gele tas.
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