Questions & Answers about Wij designden de nieuwe website.
Why does the verb designden use the -den ending instead of -ten?
For English loanverbs, Dutch applies the standard 't kofschip rule based on how the end of the stem is pronounced. The stem here is design, which ends in an /n/ sound. Because /n/ is a voiced consonant (it is not in 't kofschip), the past tense takes -de for singular and -den for plural. Since wij is plural, it becomes designden.
How do you find the stem of a loanverb like designen?
For most English loanwords, the Dutch stem is exactly the English verb. Here, the stem is simply design. The infinitive is formed by adding the standard Dutch -en ending, creating designen.
What would this sentence look like in the present perfect tense?
It would be Wij hebben de nieuwe website gedesignd. You form the past participle by adding the ge- prefix to the stem. Because the stem ends in the voiced /n/ sound (which takes -de in the simple past), the participle ends in a -d, making it gedesignd.
Why does nieuw get an -e ending here?
Most English loanwords in Dutch are treated as de words. Because website is a de word and comes after the definite article de, the adjective placed directly before it must get the standard -e ending, changing nieuw to nieuwe.
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