Breakdown of Eén karaat is me te klein.
zijn
to be
klein
small
één
one
te
too
me
me (unstressed form of mij)
het karaat
the carat
Questions & Answers about Eén karaat is me te klein.
Why do we use me here instead of voor mij (for me)?
This is a classic dative complement with an evaluative adjective. When expressing a subjective judgment with te (too) plus an adjective, Dutch often drops the preposition voor and places the naked object pronoun (me) right before the adjective phrase. It means exactly the same thing but sounds very natural and concise.
Could I change the word order and put me after te klein?
No, the dative pronoun (me) must come before the adjective phrase (te klein) in this construction. If you want to put the pronoun later in the sentence, you have to use the prepositional version: is te klein voor me.
Why does Eén have accent marks, and why is only the first letter capitalized?
The accent marks show that it is the number one (één) and not the article a/an (een). Because it is the first word of the sentence, the first letter is capitalized, and Dutch spelling rules dictate that both e's still get the acute accent: Eén.
Can I use the stressed pronoun mij instead of me here?
Yes, saying is mij te klein is perfectly grammatical. You would use mij if you wanted to emphasize that the carat is too small for you specifically, perhaps contrasting with someone else who thinks it is big enough. Otherwise, the unstressed me is standard.
Learn Eén karaat is me te klein 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