Grammatica - loco

7
Nouns
56
7.3.6
-ster
(a) Nouns derived from verb stems take this ending (plural in -s):
kapster ‘hairdresser’, schrijfster ‘authoress’, toneelspeelster
‘actress’, verkoopster ‘shop assistant’, verpleegster ‘nurse’,
werkster ‘cleaning lady’
(b) Nouns ending in -stander and -ganger take this ending (plural in -s):
voorstandster ‘supporter’, voorgangster ‘predecessor’
7.3.7
-trice
Nouns of French origin ending in -teur take this ending (plural in -s):
actrice ‘actress’, directrice ‘director’
7.3.8
-a
Some nouns of Latin origin ending in -us formerly took an -a ending to
denote the female; nowadays, however, the masculine form is usually used
(plural in -i, where formerly the plural of feminine forms in -a was ae or
’s); the -a ending is still occasionally heard in formal style:
historicus (formerly historica) ‘historian’, musicus (formerly
musica) ‘musician’, neerlandicus (formerly neerlandica)
‘graduate in Dutch’
7.4
Possession
The English possessive ‘s’ is known in Dutch but is not used as extensively
as in English, nor is it normally used in combination with an apostrophe.
Generally speaking it is only commonly used after proper nouns:
Annekes boek, Vaders auto
Close relatives preceded by a possessive can employ this s too:
mijn moeders keuken ‘my mother’s kitchen’, zijn broers
brommer ‘his brother’s moped’