de of het eethuis?
het eethuis
diner
noun · /ˈeːt.ɦœy̯s/
It is “het eethuis”. The plural is “de eethuizen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: eethuis
Forms
- Article
- het eethuis
- Plural
- de eethuizen
- Diminutive
- het eethuisje
- Also means
- cafeteria, restaurant
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
We eten vanavond in het eethuis.
We're eating at the diner tonight.
Het eethuis om de hoek is populair.
The diner around the corner is popular.
Vroeger waren er minder eethuizen hier.
There used to be fewer diners here.
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 eethuis” rather than as “eethuis” 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.