de of het bronwater?
het bronwater
mineral water
noun · /ˈbrɔnˌʋaːtər/
It is “het bronwater”. The plural is “de bronwaters”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bronwater
Forms
- Article
- het bronwater
- Plural
- de bronwaters
- Diminutive
- het bronwatertje
- Also means
- glass, drink of it
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik drink liever bronwater dan kraanwater.
I prefer to drink mineral water over tap water.
Heb je koud bronwater voor me?
Do you have cold mineral water for me?
Het bronwater is heerlijk verfrissend in de zomer.
The mineral water is wonderfully refreshing in the summer.
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 bronwater” rather than as “bronwater” 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.