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The 'verbable'

B1Verbs · lesson 57 of 79

There are several Dutch equivalents of the suffix -able, the most common being -zaam and -baar.

If we want to say that something is \verb\able (e.g. understandable, walkable), we can also use a special construction, using [te](#/lesson/Verbs.Au06).

We do this by:

te + infinitive

Do appreciate, that this construction is an adjective! It does not have a present, past, or perfect tense, nor does the infinitive function as an independent verb. It may not seem important to you at this point, but when you study the [word order](#/lesson/WordOrder.00), you will see that adjectives (or the [complement](#/lesson/WordOrder.31)) do not get the same position as verbs.

jouw haar is kambaar | your hair is 'combable'

jouw haar is te kammen | your hair can be combed ('combable')

dat is begrijpelijk | that is understandable

dat is te begrijpen | that can be understood

Apart from the [link verbs](#/lesson/WordOrder.32), which you normally use in combination with an adjective, we often use the [strong verb](#/lesson/Verbs.Ir03) vallen (to fall), which gets the same meaning as [_zijn_](#/lesson/Verbs.Ir06).

Valt dat nog te repareren? | Is that fixable?

The present participle Gerund (verb-noun)
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