de of het fruitsap?
het fruitsap
fruit juice
noun · /ˈfrœy̯t.sɑp/
It is “het fruitsap”. The plural is “de fruitsappen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: fruitsap
Forms
- Article
- het fruitsap
- Plural
- de fruitsappen
- Diminutive
- het fruitsapje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het fruitsap is lekker zoet.
The fruit juice is deliciously sweet.
Ik drink graag fruitsap bij het ontbijt.
I like to drink fruit juice with breakfast.
Zij bestelde een groot glas fruitsap.
She ordered a large glass of fruit juice.
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 fruitsap” rather than as “fruitsap” 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.