The ending -etje is added to nouns that end in a short vowel followed by a single r, l, n, m or ng.
Exceptions:
- nouns that end in unstressed -el, -er, or -en get -tje?.
- nouns that end in unstressed -em get -pje?.
- nouns that end in unstressed -ing get -kje?.
| de man
| het mannetje
| the man
|
| het gezin
| het gezinnetje
| the family
|
| de bal
| het balletje
| the ball
|
| het ding
| het dingetje
| the thing
|
| het lam
| het lammetje
| the lamb
|
| de stem
| het stemmetje
| the voice
|
Note that the final consonant of the noun is doubled in order to keep the vowel short (see rules for keeping vowels short/long). This does not happen to nouns ending in -ng as the vowel remains short after adding -etje.
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