A strong descriptive adjective vocabulary lets you bring Dutch sentences to life. Size: groot (big), klein (small), breed (wide), smal (narrow), diep (deep), ondiep (shallow), hoog (high/tall), laag (low), lang (long/tall), kort (short). Quality: goed (good), slecht (bad), prachtig (beautiful/gorgeous), lelijk (ugly), schoon (clean), vuil (dirty), vers (fresh), oud (old), nieuw (new).
Texture and material: hard (hard), zacht (soft), ruw (rough), glad (smooth/slippery), zwaar (heavy), licht (light), droog (dry), nat (wet), warm (warm), koud (cold). Opinion adjectives: interessant (interesting), saai (boring), leuk (fun/nice — very versatile Dutch word), geweldig (great/wonderful), verschrikkelijk (terrible), gewoon (ordinary/just), bijzonder (special/remarkable).
Note the special versatility of leuk — it covers “fun,” “nice,” “pleasant,” and “cute” depending on context. “Een leuke film” (a fun film), “een leuke jurk” (a nice dress), “leuk!” (cool!/great! as an exclamation). Similarly, gezellig doubles as a catch-all positive adjective for pleasant social atmospheres. These two adjectives — leuk and gezellig — are among the most useful words in Dutch and will appear in virtually every conversation.