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Questions & Answers about Na de vreugde kwam het verdriet.
The word vreugde ends in -de. Does it come from an adjective like koude does?
Not directly. While words like koude (from koud) come from modern Dutch adjectives, vreugde doesn't have a modern adjective equivalent. It is related to the verb verheugen (to rejoice). However, it behaves exactly like the other -de words in this lesson: it forms an abstract noun representing a feeling, and it is always a de-word.
How can I remember that it is de vreugde but het verdriet?
Abstract nouns ending in the suffix -de (like liefde, koude, and vreugde) are virtually always de-words. Verdriet, on the other hand, is an het-word. A helpful pattern is that many noun derivatives starting with the unstressed prefix ver- (like het verlies, het verbod, het verdriet) take het, though you still have to memorize the exceptions.
I sometimes see the word vreugd without the final -e. Is that interchangeable with vreugde?
They mean the same thing, but vreugde is the standard, everyday form. You will mostly encounter vreugd in poetry, older texts, or fixed expressions like vreugd en verdriet delen (to share joy and sorrow) or tot mijn grote vreugd (to my great joy).