{"id":7264,"date":"2021-04-19T08:58:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T08:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=7264"},"modified":"2021-04-19T08:58:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T08:58:26","slug":"all-you-need-to-know-about-the-dutch-tussen-n-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-dutch-tussen-n-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"All You Need To Know About the Dutch Tussen-n"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Monday, so let’s talk about everybody’s favorite language subject: Grammar! I’m kidding of course, it’s nobody’s favorite. But it’s a pretty important part to convey what you want to say in Dutch. Today, let’s discuss something that even confuses native Dutch speakers at times. Let’s talk about the\u00a0tussen<\/em>-n\u00a0<\/em>(“in between-n”).<\/p>\n

The general rule<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"Dutch<\/a>

Image made by and used with permission from Sten Ritterfeld<\/p><\/div>\n

So what is the tussen-n?<\/p>\n

In\u00a0samenstellingen<\/em> (compound nouns)<\/a> in Dutch, you may have come across a\u00a0-n-<\/em>, or lack thereof. For example,\u00a0pannen<\/strong>koek\u00a0<\/em>(pancake) seems fine, but what about\u00a0pannekoek<\/em>?\u00a0Is it\u00a0grachtegordel\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0grachten<\/strong>gordel\u00a0<\/em>(canal belt)? Or aktetas <\/em>or Akten<\/strong>tas <\/em>(briefcase)? That -n-\u00a0<\/em>there, that’s the\u00a0tussen-n<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As with many grammar things, the\u00a0tussen-n\u00a0<\/em>has a hoofdregel <\/em>(general rule).<\/p>\n

In the example above, you can see that\u00a0the first part of the sentence are the words pannen<\/strong> <\/em>(pans), grachten\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(canals) and akten <\/em><\/strong>(documents) respectively. Generally, the\u00a0tussen-n <\/em>is required if the meervoud <\/em>(plural) of a word can only be written with a -n<\/em> at the end. For some words, the meervoud <\/em>can also have an -s <\/em>at the end, for example dame, dames <\/em>(lady, ladies). If a word can have either an\u00a0-s\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0-n\u00a0<\/em>at the end, you don’t write the\u00a0tussen-n<\/em>.\u00a0Akte\u00a0<\/em>is a word like that, where the\u00a0meervoud\u00a0<\/em>can either be\u00a0aktes<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0akten<\/strong><\/em>. So, it’s\u00a0aktetas<\/em>!<\/p>\n

There are more rules that you could attach to this. The Woordenlijst van de Nederlandse taal <\/em>(Word list of the Dutch language), better known as the\u00a0Groene Boekje\u00a0<\/em>(Green Booklet) because of its green cover, has the official rules. You can check them out here<\/a>. This is a general rule to follow for those in government agencies and the educational sector.<\/p>\n

However, the official rules for the\u00a0tussen-n\u00a0<\/em>are convoluted and difficult. Many words do or don’t have a\u00a0tussen-n\u00a0<\/em>simply because they’re\u00a0versteende samenstellingen\u00a0<\/em>(set-in-stone compounds). But how would you know this as a language learner?<\/p>\n

Uitzonderingen<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n
\"Dutch<\/a>

Image made by and used with permission from Sten Ritterfeld<\/p><\/div>\n

The website\u00a0Onze Taal<\/em>, which gives excellent Dutch language advice, has different advice on the\u00a0tussen-n\u00a0<\/em>for this reason. They give some rules of how the\u00a0tussen-n\u00a0<\/em>is used in practice, but they’re no exact science. Take them more as general guidelines. And, they say, if your taalgevoel <\/em>(sense of language) feels right, you probably are with the\u00a0tussen-n<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Their rules are as follows.<\/p>\n

Usually, there is a\u00a0tussen-n<\/em><\/strong>, if:<\/p>\n