The former is the standard way, while the latter is found in some dialects, mostly in the south (Brabantian and Limburgish). The diminutive on "-ke(n)" is common in informal Belgian Dutch (due to final-n deletion in Dutch, the final -n is often not pronounced). All diminutives have neuter gender, no matter what the gender of the original noun was. The plural is always formed with "-s". The basic suffix "-tje" is modified in different ways depending on the final sounds of the noun it is attached to. The "-t-" is removed from the ending when added to words ending in a fricative or plosive (-b, -c, -d, -f, -g, -ch, -k, -p, -q, -s, -sj, -t, -v, -x, -z). Note that the last two words really end in a consonant, despite not being spelled that way. When the vowel of the last syllable is both short and stressed, and it is followed by a sonorant, an extra schwa "-e-" is inserted, giving -etje. In all other cases, the basic form -tje is used. This includes:  When the final vowel is long, it is doubled accordingly. Final "-i", which does not really occur in native Dutch words, is converted into "-ie". Final "-y" gets an apostrophe. In the case of the vowels "oe" and "ie", there is some ambiguity. While pronounced short in many dialects, they can also be long for some speakers, so forms both with and without the extra "-e-" can be found. In the south, the ending "-ke(n)" is often used instead. It also has different forms depending on the preceding sounds, with rules very similar to those for the "-tje" ending. An older form of this ending was "-ken", which is more like its German cognate "-chen". This form is not used much today, due to final n-deletion which is common in Dutch, but it is still found in older texts and names. A famous example is "Manneken Pis". When the word ends in a velar consonant (-g, -ch, -k, -ng), an extra dissimilative "-s-" is inserted, giving -ske(n). An extra "-e-" is inserted in three cases, giving -eke(n):  Examples:   In all other cases, the ending is the basic -ke(n).