Het boek is dun.

to be

Breakdown of Het boek is dun.

• het boek: the book
• dun: thin

Questions & Answers about Het boek is dun.

Why is the definite article het used instead of de in the sentence?

Because boek is a neuter noun in Dutch. Neuter singular nouns take het as their definite article, whereas common gender nouns use de.

What does the adjective dun mean in this context?

It means thin, describing the physical thickness of the book—specifically, that the book is not thick.

Why is the adjective dun not inflected (i.e., not changed to dunne) in this sentence?

When adjectives follow a linking verb (such as is) in a predicative position, they remain in their base form without any inflection. The -e ending is typically added only when an adjective is used attributively before a noun.

How does the word order of Het boek is dun compare to its English equivalent?

The structure is very similar to English. The sentence follows a subject-verb-adjective order: het boek (the book) is the subject, is (is) is the linking verb, and dun (thin) is the adjective, just as in "The book is thin."

If dun were used attributively (for example, in "a thin book"), would its form change?

Yes, it can change. When used attributively with a definite article, adjectives in Dutch typically take an -e ending. For example, het dunne boek means "the thin book." However, with an indefinite article for a neuter noun, it might remain uninflected, as in een dun boek.