Editing Dutch grammar (section)

====Additional uses of the uninflected form====

Uninflected adjectives are occasionally found in other contexts. With neuter nouns, if the adjective is inherently part of the noun as part of a set phrase, then the uninflected form is often used in the definite singular as well:

* {{lang|nl|het openbaar vervoer}} ("the public transport", as a specific entity)
* {{lang|nl|het openbar'''e''' vervoer}} ("the public transport", meaning the transport that is public, it could be any transport)
* {{lang|nl|het groot woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal}} ("the big dictionary of the Dutch language", as a proper title)
* {{lang|nl|het grot'''e''' woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal}} ("the big dictionary of the Dutch language", a dictionary that happens to be big)
* {{lang|nl|het Burgerlijk Wetboek}} ("the civil code", as a proper name)

Indefinite adjectives describing people often remain uninflected, if they express a personal quality. This is not stylistically neutral, but has a formal, rhetorical or poetic ring to it, and can occasionally distinguish literal meanings of an adjective from a more figurative one. Furthermore, this is only done with some nouns, not all.

* {{lang|nl|een talentvol schrijver}} ("a talented writer") — {{lang|nl|een talentvolle schrijver}} (the same)
* {{lang|nl|een groot man}} ("a great man"; figurative meaning) — {{lang|nl|een grote man}} ("a big/tall man"; literal meaning) — {{lang|nl|een grote vrouw}} ("a great/big/tall woman"; {{lang|nl|-e}} is always used with {{lang|nl|vrouw}})