de of het deksel?
het deksel
lid
noun · /ˈdɛk.səl/
It is “het deksel”. The plural is “de deksels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: deksel
Forms
- Article
- het deksel
- Plural
- de deksels
- Diminutive
- het dekseltje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het deksel zit niet goed vast.
The lid isn't properly attached.
Doe alsjeblieft het deksel op de pot.
Please put the lid on the jar.
Waar is het deksel van deze container?
Where is the lid of this container?
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 deksel” rather than as “deksel” 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.