14 Comments
Is the word groot used to mean tall when referring to people?
If you hear that someone is "groot", what kind of person would you expect? Tall? Wide? Large? Awesome?
I'm fascinated by the similarity and divergence from German. Is "lang" also used to mean "long"?
A person is usually called "tall", but a thing is usually called "long". Even the person's arms and legs would be called "long". I have heard a person called "long and lean", but that is an expression. Giraffes are often called "tall", but an alligator or snake is called "long". Actually, "tall" is used for vertical height. Buildings and trees are also called tall. "long" is usually used for horizontal length, but it can mean any length.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tall http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/long?show=0=1408739500
I don't get the difference between "lange" and "lang" (or "groote and "groot")
There are many rules for this, depending on the gender of the word, if you are talking about plural or not, if there is a verb, 'a/an' or 'the' before the word or if it is used independently. Try this link, it is also at tips and notes I have been told:
As long as it is at the end, there's no "e" Source: Am german, dutch is pretty similar
Ugh its so confusing sometimes cause i am german so a lot of the dutch words are similar but then when it sounds like a german word(lange) then i get it wrong cause then i think too german haha
