{"id":2137,"date":"2013-04-15T10:41:07","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T10:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=2137"},"modified":"2013-04-19T11:15:55","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T11:15:55","slug":"why-some-words-get-a-double-consonant-while-others-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/why-some-words-get-a-double-consonant-while-others-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do some words get a double consonant in the plural form and not others?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Flickr Creative Commons\/semarr<\/p><\/div>\n

So here’s a question we were asked last week by a reader:<\/p>\n

“Random question. Woman = vrouw; women = vrouwen. Why not vrouwwen (ie man -> mannen, etc)?”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Excellent question!<\/p>\n

Here’s the deal…<\/p>\n

As in English, vowels in Dutch can have both the long sound (been<\/em>, maan<\/em>) and short sound (ben<\/em>, kat<\/em>). In Dutch, the long vowel sound is denoted by doubling up on the vowel in question. For example, maan<\/em> (moon) and been<\/em> (leg) both get the long vowel sound as opposed to man<\/em> (man) or bot<\/em> (bone) which get the short vowel sound.<\/p>\n

So, the short answer is, the double “n” in mannen<\/em> keeps the “a” in the word man<\/em> short. Without that second “n,” you’ve got manen<\/em>, with a long “a” sound, which means moons.<\/p>\n

For more on vowels, check out this past post on spelling\u00a0Dutch\u00a0words with long vowel sounds<\/a> and this one on spelling Dutch words with short vowel sounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The word vrouw<\/em> (woman) uses the “ou” vowel combination. Unlike “a” and “e,” which can take on the long or short vowel sound, “ou” always makes the same sound (ow). Because we only need that double consonant to keep the short vowels short when the word becomes plural, it’s not needed in words like vrouw<\/em>. So all we need to do is add an “en” on the end to make it vrouwen<\/em> (women)<\/p>\n

Some others to watch out for:<\/p>\n

Long vowels:<\/strong><\/p>\n

been<\/em> -> leg
\nplural: benen<\/em> -> legs
\n*bennen<\/span> is not a word<\/p>\n

teen<\/em> -> toe
\nplural: tenen<\/em> -> toes
\n*tennen<\/span> is not a word<\/p>\n

zoon<\/em> -> son
\nplural: zonen<\/em> -> sons
\n*zonnen<\/span><\/em> means suns<\/p>\n

boot<\/em> -> boat
\nplural: boten<\/em> -> boats
\n*botten<\/em><\/span> means bones<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Short vowels<\/strong><\/p>\n

bed<\/em> -> bed
\nplural: bedden<\/em> -> beds
\n*beden<\/span> is the plural for plea\/prayer that is no longer used<\/p>\n

man<\/em> -> man
\nplural: mannen<\/em> -> men
\n*manen<\/em><\/span> means moons<\/p>\n

pit<\/em> -> pit\/stone
\nplural: pitten<\/em> -> pits\/stones
\n*piten<\/span> is not a word<\/p>\n

But here’s the thing. Every rule has exceptions and some rules have no rhyme or reason behind them. One such exception is woord<\/em> (word). Woord<\/em> has the long vowel sound so, based on the examples above, the plural (words) should be worden<\/em>. However, worden<\/em> means “to become” NOT “words.”<\/p>\n

What is the Dutch word for “words” then? It’s woorden<\/em>. More on why in another post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more, you can also go back to this post on Dutch plurals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, learn the rule, but be flexible. And take it easy on yourself. Learning a language is a challenge. Some things won’t make sense, others will simply drive you crazy. But just keep plugging along and you’ll get there. You can do this!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

So here’s a question we were asked last week by a reader: “Random question. Woman = vrouw; women = vrouwen. Why not vrouwwen (ie man -> mannen, etc)?” Excellent question! Here’s the deal… As in English, vowels in Dutch can have both the long sound (been, maan) and short sound (ben, kat). In Dutch, the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":2139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[27710],"tags":[3607,3613,3622,27620,27623,146],"class_list":["post-2137","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dutch-grammar","tag-double-dutch-vowels","tag-dutch-consonants","tag-dutch-plurals","tag-long-vowels","tag-short-vowels","tag-spelling"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t