To say how something happens, Dutch uses the plain adjective (the describing word as you find it in the dictionary). English turns quick into quickly, but Dutch adds nothing: _Ze zingt mooi_ means she sings beautifully, and _Hij rijdt snel_ means he drives fast. A word used like this is an adverb (a word that describes an action), and it gets no -e.
The pattern
To say how something happens, use the adjective in its dictionary form. Dutch adds no -ly and no -e.
- Most adjectives can do this job unchanged: _snel_ is fast and quickly, _mooi_ is beautiful and beautifully, _rustig_ is calm and calmly.
- _goed_ means both good and well. Do not use _wel_ for well: it is a different word.
- Comparatives work the same way: _langzamer_ means slower and more slowly.
- The bare form also goes in front of another adjective: _heel koud_ (very cold), _erg duur_ (very expensive).
- In the perfect tense, the adverb comes before the participle at the end: _Ik heb goed geslapen._ More on order in [time, manner, place](#/lesson/time-manner-place).
Examples
| Fatima zingt mooi. | Fatima sings beautifully. |
|---|---|
| Daan fietst altijd snel naar zijn werk. | Daan always cycles to work quickly. |
| De trein rijdt vandaag langzaam. | The train is running slowly today. |
| Kunt u wat langzamer praten? | Could you speak a bit more slowly? |
| De huisarts legt alles duidelijk uit. | The GP explains everything clearly. |
| Mijn buurvrouw groet me altijd vriendelijk. | My neighbour always greets me in a friendly way. |
| Je spreekt al goed Nederlands! | You already speak Dutch well! |
| Emma heeft vannacht goed geslapen. | Emma slept well last night. |
| Het is een heel koude dag. | It is a very cold day. |
| Bas heeft een erg dure fiets gekocht. | Bas has bought a very expensive bike. |
Why it works this way
English uses -ly as a label that says: this word describes an action. Dutch skips the label. When a describing word says how an action happens, it works as an adverb and stays unchanged. Its position is not the clue: in _Hij koopt mooie bloemen_, _mooie_ comes right after the verb, but it describes the flowers, so it gets -e.
Think of the -e as a handshake with a noun. In [adjective endings](#/lesson/adjective-endings) you saw that an adjective often adds -e when it stands in front of a noun. An adverb has no noun to shake hands with: it describes an action or another adjective, so it stays bare.
Compare these pairs:
- _Priya heeft een mooie stem._ (Priya has a beautiful voice.) Here _mooie_ describes the noun _stem_.
- _Priya zingt mooi._ (Priya sings beautifully.) Here _mooi_ describes the singing.
- _een vreselijk dure jas_: a terribly expensive coat
- _een vreselijke, dure jas_: a horrible, expensive coat
In the last pair, one letter changes the meaning. Without -e, _vreselijk_ describes _dure_. With -e, it describes the coat itself.
In casual speech you will hear _een hele mooie dag_. Lots of people say it, but in writing and in exams, use _heel_. For more words like this, see [heel, erg and echt](#/lesson/intensifiers).
Words such as _duidelijk_ and _vriendelijk_ end in _-lijk_, which looks a lot like -ly. Here _-lijk_ is simply part of the adjective, so _duidelijk_ means clear and clearly at once. Spanish speakers can forget about -mente too, and German speakers are in luck: German works the same way.
Remember: no noun, no -e. If a word describes a thing, check the adjective rules. If it describes an action or another adjective, use the bare form, with no -e.
Watch out
- Not: _Lotte slaapt slechte._ Say: _Lotte slaapt slecht._ (_slecht_ says how she sleeps, and there is no noun, so no -e)
- Not: _Joris heeft gefietst snel._ Say: _Joris heeft snel gefietst._ (the participle goes last, so the adverb comes before it)
- Not: _Carlos praat langzame en duidelijke._ Say: _Carlos praat langzaam en duidelijk._ (both words say how he talks, so both stay plain)
- Not: _Yara heeft een heel mooi jas._ Say: _Yara heeft een heel mooie jas._ (_heel_ stays bare, but _mooie_ describes _de jas_ and needs -e)
Quick check
- Choose: _Mei fietst ... naar de supermarkt._ (_voorzichtig_ or _voorzichtige_)
- Choose: _Sanne heeft een ... auto._ (_snel_ or _snelle_)
- Choose, for a very expensive phone: _Ahmed heeft een ... dure telefoon gekocht._ (_erg_ or _erge_)
- Fix the sentence: _Bas heeft gewerkt hard._
Answers
- _voorzichtig_: it says how Mei cycles, so no -e.
- _snelle_: it describes the noun _auto_, a de-word after _een_, so it gets -e.
- _erg_: it describes _dure_, not the phone, so it stays bare.
- _Bas heeft hard gewerkt._ The adverb comes before the participle at the end.
Use it today
Tonight, write three Dutch sentences about how your day went: how you slept, how you travelled, how someone spoke to you. For example: _Ik heb slecht geslapen_ or _Ik ben rustig naar huis gefietst._ Check each one: no -ly thinking, and no -e.