de of het gajes?
het gajes
riffraff
noun · /ˈɣaː.jəs/
It is “het gajes”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: gajes
Forms
- Article
- het gajes
- Also means
- rabble
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik wil niets met dat gajes te maken hebben.
I want nothing to do with that riffraff.
Die types zijn echt het ergste gajes.
Those types are really the worst riffraff.
Pas op voor dat gajes in de steeg.
Watch out for that riffraff in the alley.
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 gajes” rather than as “gajes” 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.