The diminutive form is extremely popular in Holland. Its use is not exclusively reserved for small things. It is also widely used for things that are considered sweet, cute, funny, or even annoying.
The basic formula for the diminutive is:
noun+ _je_
Recall that diminutives are always het-nouns.
het kind | het kind je | the child
het schaap | het schaap je | the sheep
de voet | het voet je | the foot
het oog | het oog je | the eye
de neus | het neus je | the nose
de hap | het hap je | the bite, snack
Unfortunately, the story is not quite this simple. Depending on the phonetics of the noun, many diminutives do not simply get _-je_ but rather _-tje, -etje, -pje,_ or _-kje._ Continue to the next page to read more about this.
If you only arrived on this page to look up a diminutive ending for a noun, have a look at the [checklist](#/lesson/NounsAndArticles.21).