de of het formulier?
het formulier
form
noun · /ˌfɔr.myˈliːr/
It is “het formulier”. The plural is “de formulieren”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: formulier
Forms
- Article
- het formulier
- Plural
- de formulieren
- Diminutive
- het formuliertje
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Ik moet het formulier nog invullen.
I still need to fill out the form.
Waar kan ik dit formulier inleveren?
Where can I hand in this form?
Vul het formulier duidelijk in.
Fill in the form clearly.
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 formulier” rather than as “formulier” 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.