de of het basilicum?
het basilicum
basil
noun · /ˌbaːˈzi.li.kʏm/
It is “het basilicum”. The plural is “de basilicums”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: basilicum
Forms
- Article
- het basilicum
- Plural
- de basilicums
- Diminutive
- het basilicumpje
- Also means
- notably:
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik vind verse basilicum het lekkerst.
I like fresh basil the most.
Snijd het basilicum fijn voor de pesto.
Chop the basil finely for the pesto.
Hebben we nog basilicum voor de tomatensoep?
Do we still have basil for the tomato soup?
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 basilicum” rather than as “basilicum” 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.