de of het everzwijn?
het everzwijn
wild boar
noun · /ˈeː.vərˌzʋɛi̯n/
It is “het everzwijn”. The plural is “de everzwijnen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: everzwijn
Forms
- Article
- het everzwijn
- Plural
- de everzwijnen
- Diminutive
- het everzwijntje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het everzwijn stak rustig de weg over.
The wild boar calmly crossed the road.
Everzwijnen leven vaak in groepen in het bos.
Wild boars often live in groups in the forest.
De jager zag verse sporen van een everzwijn.
The hunter saw fresh tracks of a wild boar.
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 everzwijn” rather than as “everzwijn” 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.