Questions & Answers about De wolk is groot en wit.
Why do we use de instead of het with wolk?
Because Dutch nouns are divided into common‐gender (de-words) and neuter (het-words). wolk is a common‐gender noun, so it takes de.
What is the plural of wolk, and how would the sentence change?
The plural of wolk is wolken. In the plural you also change the verb to zijn (are): De wolken zijn groot en wit.
Why don’t the adjectives groot and wit have an -e ending here?
They’re used predicatively—placed after the verb zijn. Predicative adjectives in Dutch remain in their base form and are not inflected.
When do adjectives get an -e ending in Dutch?
Adjectives take -e when they’re attributive (before a noun):
• After the definite article de: de grote wolk, de witte wolk
• After het with a neuter noun: het grote huis
• In all plurals: de grote huizen
Indefinite neuter nouns (with een) do not take -e: een groot huis.