de of het dorpsplein?
het dorpsplein
village square
noun · /ˈdɔrps.plɛi̯n/
It is “het dorpsplein”. The plural is “de dorpspleinen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: dorpsplein
Forms
- Article
- het dorpsplein
- Plural
- de dorpspleinen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De kinderen spelen op het dorpsplein.
The children play on the village square.
Het dorpsplein is erg gezellig.
The village square is very cozy.
Er is een markt op het dorpsplein.
There is a market on the village square.
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 dorpsplein” rather than as “dorpsplein” 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.