One of the typical properties of attributive adjectives is that they can be followed by an inflectional -e ending. The distribution of the attributive -e ending depends on the gender and number features of the head noun, as well as the definiteness of the noun phrase as a whole.

Nouns can be divided into two main groups based on the definite determiner they select in the singular: (i) the de-group, consisting of masculine and feminine nouns, and (ii) the het-group, consisting of neuter nouns; cf. Section N14.1.1, sub II. The examples in Table 2 show that the attributive -e ending is generally obligatory on the adjective when it precedes a (non-neuter) de-noun.

	singular	plural
definite	de oude/*oud-Ø stoel the old chair	de oude/*oud-Ø stoelen the old chairs
indefinite	een oude/*oud-Ø stoel an old chair	oude/*oud-Ø stoelen old chairs

With (neuter) het-nouns, on the other hand, the attributive -e ending is absent from the adjective in indefinite singular noun phrases. In the remaining cases, the ending is obligatory. This is illustrated in Table 3.

	singular	plural
definite	het oude/*oud-Ø paard the old horse	de oude/*oud-Ø paarden the old horse
indefinite	een *oude/oud-Ø paard an old horse	oude/*oud-Ø paarden old horses

In the case of non-count nouns, the number feature is neutralized, so that only gender and definiteness are relevant: Table 4 shows that adjectives modifying a non-count noun of the de-class always get the attributive -e ending, while those modifying a neuter non-count noun get the -e ending only when they are preceded by a definite determiner such as het.

	de-noun	het-noun
definite	de lekkere rijst the tasty rice	het lekkere bier tasty beer
indefinite	lekkere rijst tasty rice	lekker-Ø bier tasty beer

The discussion above describes the general pattern, but it should be noted that there are exceptions. For instance, the examples in (21) show that the attributive -e ending is not realized when the adjective ends in a schwa, as in (21a), or in one of the long vowels /a:/, /o:/ or /i:/, as in (21b-d).

This is discussed in more detail in Section 27.1, along with other exceptions to the general pattern, which is summarized schematically in Table 5.

	singular		plural		non–count
	de-noun	het-noun	de-noun	het-noun	de-noun	het-noun
definite	A+-e	A+-e	A+-e	A+-e	A+-e	A+-e
indefinite	A+-e	A+-Ø	A+-e	A+-e	A+-e	A+-Ø

The inflectional properties of attributive adjectives can be useful in distinguishing them from other elements that are placed between the determiner and the noun, such as the cardinal numeral vierfour in (22a') or the adverbially used adjective goedwell in (22b'); cf. Section 27.2.

We conclude this subsection on adjectival inflection with a brief remark on the adjectival use of participles and modal infinitives. Participles are divided into two groups: present participles, such as vechtendfighting, and past/passive participles, such as gekustkissed. Both types can be used as attributive adjectives, which is clear from the fact that they exhibit the pattern of attributive inflection in Table 5. This is illustrated in (i) and (ii) in Table 6 for the present and past participles, respectively.

de-nouns	singular		plural
definite	(i)	de vechtende jongen the fighting boy	(i)	de vechtende jongens the fighting boys
	(ii)	de gekuste jongen the kissed boy	(ii)	de gekuste jongens the kissed boys
indefinite	(i)	een vechtende jongen a fighting boy	(i)	vechtende jongens fighting boys
	(ii)	een gekuste jongen a kissed boy	(ii)	gekuste jongens kissed boys
het-nouns	singular		plural
definite	(i)	het vechtende kind the fighting child	(i)	de vechtende kinderen the fighting children
	(ii)	het gekuste kind the kissed child	(ii)	de gekuste kinderen the kissed children
indefinite	(i)	een vechtend-Ø kind a fighting child	(i)	vechtende kinderen fighting children
	(ii)	een gekust-Ø kind a kissed child	(ii)	gekuste kinderen kissed children

If exhibiting attributive inflection is a sufficient condition for assuming adjectival status, the examples in Table 6 unambiguously show that the past/passive and present participles can be used as adjectives; see also Section 25.1.2, sub IA and IB, for a severely restricted set of adverbially used adjectives that also seem to be inflected. We will return to the attributive use of participles in Chapter 31.

The examples in (23) show that modal infinitives can also be used in attributive position; recall that the term modal is used here because the infinitive is deontic in the sense that it inherently expresses some notion of “ability” or “obligation”.

In accordance with the observation in (21a), modal infinitives never get the attributive -e ending, since they are pronounced with a word-final schwa, here orthographically represented as -en. The attributive use of modal infinitives will also be discussed in more detail in Chapter 31.