de of het druivensap?
het druivensap
grape juice
noun · /ˈdrœy̯.və(n)ˌsɑp/
It is “het druivensap”. The plural is “de druivensappen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: druivensap
Forms
- Article
- het druivensap
- Plural
- de druivensappen
- Diminutive
- het druivensapje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik drink graag druivensap.
I like to drink grape juice.
Wil je een glas druivensap?
Do you want a glass of grape juice?
Het druivensap is erg zoet.
The grape juice is very sweet.
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 druivensap” rather than as “druivensap” 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.