de of het avondeten?
het avondeten
dinner
noun · /ˈaːvɔntˌeːtə(n)/
It is “het avondeten”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: avondeten
Forms
- Article
- het avondeten
- Also means
- supper, evening meal
- How common
- among the 5,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Ik maak vanavond het avondeten.
I'm making supper tonight.
Hoe laat is het avondeten?
What time is supper?
Na het avondeten gaan we wandelen.
After supper, we're going for a walk.
Why this article
No rule predicts it
This one has to be memorised. No spelling pattern marks it as neuter, which is exactly why it is worth learning as “het avondeten” rather than as “avondeten” on its own.
The rules that do work
- • Every plural takes “de”, without exception.
- • Every diminutive ending in -je takes “het”, without exception.
- • Nouns ending in -ing, -heid, -tie, -teit or -schap take “de”.
- • Roughly two thirds of all nouns take “de”, so it is the better guess.
Other nouns whose article has to be memorised
Stop guessing de and het
Woordje has a practice mode for exactly this: it shows a noun and asks for the article, and keeps asking until you stop getting it wrong.