De auto is kleurijk.

to be

Breakdown of De auto is kleurijk.

• de auto: the car
• kleurijk: colorful

Questions & Answers about De auto is kleurijk.

What is the literal meaning of the sentence "De auto is kleurijk"?

It literally translates to "The car is colorful." The sentence tells us that the car has a variety of bright colors.

Why is the article de used with auto?

In Dutch, nouns have grammatical genders. Auto is a common gender noun, so it takes the definite article de rather than het.

What does the adjective kleurijk mean, and is it the only way to express "colorful" in Dutch?

Kleurijk means "colorful." While it is correct, you might also come across kleurrijk with an extra r, which is more commonly used in everyday language. Both versions convey the idea of having many striking colors.

Why does the adjective kleurijk remain unchanged in this sentence?

In Dutch, when an adjective follows a linking verb like is, it stays in its base form. However, if the adjective is placed before a noun (for example, de kleurijke auto), it typically takes an inflected ending depending on definiteness and number.

Is the word order in "De auto is kleurijk" similar to that in English?

Yes, the sentence follows a straightforward Subject-Verb-Predicate structure, just like "The car is colorful" in English. This similarity makes understanding the basic sentence structure easier for English speakers.

Which verb is used in this sentence, and why is recognizing it important for learners?

The verb is is the third-person singular present tense of zijn (meaning "to be"). Recognizing this form is crucial because zijn is an essential, irregular verb in Dutch that appears in many common expressions and sentences.