donkere

Donkere is the inflected form of the Dutch adjective donker, meaning dark or gloomy. It is used to describe a noun and is most common in attributive position after definite articles or in plural phrases. For example, in de donkere kamer (the dark room) and donkere dagen (dark days). In many cases, the form with -e signals that the noun is definite or plural, while the base form donker appears in some indefinite singular contexts, such as een donker huis (a dark house).

Etymology and cognates: donker comes from Old Dutch and is related to similar Germanic words for dark, such as German dunkel and English dark. The word has retained a broad semantic range over time, covering physical darkness as well as figurative gloom or obscurity.

Usage and nuance: Donkere can describe lighting conditions, color intensity, or mood. It is frequently used in everyday speech and writing to convey atmosphere, danger, or mystery. Common collocations include donkere nacht (dark night), donkere hemel (dark sky), and donkere periode (dark period). Figuratively, it can express fear, sadness, or foreboding, as in een donkere toekomst or een donker hoofdstuk in een story.

Grammatical notes: Donker is the base form of the adjective; donkere is the common attributive form before definite nouns or in plural phrases. Other inflected forms exist to reflect comparatives and superlatives (donker, donkerder, donkerst), depending on the syntactic context.

See also: donker, donkerheid, donkerder.