Dutch learning questions, answered

Is it “de” or “het”?

Roughly two thirds of Dutch nouns take “de” and one third take “het”, and there is no rule that covers every case, so the article has to be learned together with the word. Always store a noun as “de fiets” or “het huis” rather than as “fiets” or “huis” on its own.

Reliable patterns do exist. Every plural takes “de”. So do most nouns for people and professions, and nouns ending in -ing, -heid, -tie, -schap, or -teit. Diminutives ending in -je always take “het”, as do most nouns beginning with ge-, be-, or ver-, and the names of languages, metals, and compass directions.

Which Dutch words take “het”?

The largest predictable group is diminutives: any noun ending in -je, -tje, -pje, or -kje takes “het”, whatever the article of the word it came from. “De man” becomes “het mannetje”.

Beyond that, “het” covers most single-syllable verb stems used as nouns, nouns starting with ge-, be-, or ver-, languages, metals, compass directions, and the names of sports. Everything outside those groups is worth checking rather than guessing.

How many Dutch words do I need to know?

About 1,000 to 1,500 words carry ordinary daily conversation, which is roughly the A2 level. Around 3,000 words is enough to follow the news and hold a work conversation, at B1 to B2. Comfortable reading of novels and opinion writing starts somewhere near 5,000.

Frequency matters more than volume. The most common 1,000 Dutch words account for the large majority of everyday speech, so a small list of well chosen words goes a long way.

Woordje has a free vocabulary test that estimates where you are: it samples five frequency bands and takes about three minutes.

Why is Dutch word order so hard?

Dutch is a verb-second language in main clauses: the finite verb always sits in the second position, whatever comes first. “Ik ga morgen naar Amsterdam” becomes “Morgen ga ik naar Amsterdam” when the time expression moves to the front, and the verb stays put.

In subordinate clauses the verb moves to the end instead: “Ik weet dat hij morgen naar Amsterdam gaat.” Practising with whole sentences rather than isolated words is what makes this automatic.

What is Woordje?

Woordje is a web app for building your own Dutch vocabulary list and practising it. You add the words you actually meet, at work, in class, or while reading, and Woordje fills in the translation, the article, a plain-language meaning, and an example sentence.

Practice then draws on that list in four modes: recall, fill in the blank, word order, and de/het. It runs in any browser and installs to a phone home screen as a progressive web app.

How does AI grading work?

You type a free-text answer rather than picking from multiple choice, and a language model compares it against the stored word, accepting valid synonyms and word forms while rejecting genuine mistakes. When an answer is wrong, the grader explains what went wrong instead of only marking it.

This is the reason Woordje can practise recall properly. Multiple choice lets you recognise an answer you could not have produced.

Is Woordje free?

Yes, signing up and building a word list is free, and new accounts start with enough credit to practise straight away. Credits cover the cost of the AI calls behind translation and grading, and you can top them up if you run out.

Inviting a friend earns credit for both of you, so regular use does not have to cost anything.

Which languages can I learn Dutch from?

Woordje shows every word in English plus a translation into your native language. Sixteen are supported: Russian, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Polish, Ukrainian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, and Indonesian.

You can also choose English only if a second language is not useful to you.

How is Woordje different from Duolingo or Anki?

Duolingo teaches a fixed curriculum, so you practise the words its course chose rather than the ones you met this week. Woordje has no curriculum: the list is yours.

Anki is also self-built, but every card is written and graded by you, and self-grading is where most decks quietly fail. Woordje fills in the card content for you and grades free-text answers, so there is neither card-writing work nor the temptation to mark a half-remembered answer correct.