Question 1

Since brie is an uncountable mass noun here, how would I refer to a specific individual portion using a diminutive?

Accepted Answer

You can use the diminutive brietje. As you are learning in this lesson, adding a diminutive ending to a mass noun turns it into a countable portion. So, while brie refers to the cheese in general, een brietje means a specific piece, wedge, or small wheel of brie.

Question 2

Why does verse get an -e at the end, but populair does not?

Accepted Answer

Verse is placed directly before the noun it describes, so it gets the standard -e ending. Populair is separated from the noun by the verb is (predicative use), and adjectives in this position never take an -e ending. Also, notice that the root word for fresh is vers; unlike words like huis that change s to z, the s stays an s in verse.

Question 3

What exactly is the nuance of tamelijk compared to heel or erg?

Accepted Answer

Tamelijk translates to "rather," "quite," or "fairly." It expresses a moderate degree of something. It is stronger than "a little bit" (een beetje) but noticeably weaker than "very" (heel or erg).

Question 4

Could I use dit instead of deze if I am pointing at a specific physical piece of cheese?

Accepted Answer

Not with the word brie, because it is a de-word (de brie), which always requires deze (this) or die (that). However, if you transformed the noun into a diminutive to mean a specific portion (het brietje), it automatically becomes a het-word. You would then say dit verse brietje.

Deze verse brie is tamelijk populair.

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