In the Netherlands everything is small! At least that’s what you might think when you hear us using so many diminutives. Even though most diminutives in Dutch end with
–je, there are still different ways to ‘make a word smaller’. Some words get extra letters besides –je. Also, most diminutives are used for nouns.
Many words only end with –je, but often there’s a letter or two extra! And the article used with a diminutive is ALWAYS ‘het’, no matter what article is used with the regular noun form. These are the most common rules but I’ve kept it down a bit to prevent making this more confusing than it really is. If you have questions, please let me know
The words that don’t fall under one of the below described categories, end with –je.
Examples:
- Het huis - het huisje (house)
- De staaf - het staafje (stick)
- De boot - het bootje (boat)
- Het apparaat - het apparaatje (device)
Words that end with: -e, -ou, -ie, -eu, -w and –ee get –tje at the end of the diminutive.
Examples:
- De dame - het dametje (lady)
- De kou - het koutje (cold)
- De kolibrie – het kolibrietje (hummingbird)
- De wei - het weitje (meadow)
- De slee - het sleetje (sleigh)
- De leeuw - het leeuwtje
- De duw – het duwtje
Words that end with –a, -o, -u, en –é get a double vowel.
Examples:
- De opa - het opaatje (grandpa)
- De auto - het autootje (car)
- Het menu - het menuutje (menu)
- Het café - het cafeetje (café)
Words that end with –i
With these words, the –i changes in –ie
- De ski – het skietje (ski)
Words that end with –y
With these words there’s an apostrophe between the substansive and – tje
- De baby – het baby’tje
Words that end with –l, -n, or –r, with a double vowel before those letters.
- De schaal – het schaaltje (dish)
- De pompoen – het pompoentje (pumpkin)
- De schuur – het schuurtje (shed)
3 Comments
Hi, Dank je for explaining it very well, I would like to ask what is the translation of this dutch words in English,
“Een paar woorden om te leren:
ik vind jou erg lief en mooi en ik denk dat ik je ook erg lekker vind.
Even geduld nog!”
Any response is well appreciated
hi, such a nice and down-to-earth typology of dutch dimminutives!!
)) i would like to ask u if u use in dutch adjectives to express diminutive form, for example in english, they have two adjectives to denote smallness: small and little, the latter denoting more intimacy towards the adrressee than the former. little basket vs small basket…it even sounds better!! 
)
Dear Lucia,
I note that you haven’t received a response to your question yet, so I’ll respond with what I know.
My grandmother was dutch and I grew up speaking *some* Dutch, but I have not spoken it in many years and I am here to pick up what I have lost and improve my speaking skills (hopefully!).
There are diminutives in Dutch, but some words that Dutch and English have a shared root in Old Saxon may now have slightly different meanings. For instance “small” in English means diminutive in any direction, but ‘smal’ in Dutch, it only means ‘narrow’.
‘Klein’ means small as an English speaker would think of it.
One word that means ‘little’- is ‘beetje’. As in “Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands” or “I speak a little Dutch”.
There are other diminutive words, but I am not familiar with them.
Hope this helps,
T