de of het gareel?
het gareel
horsecollar
noun · /ɣaːˈreːl/
It is “het gareel”. The plural is “de garelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: gareel
Forms
- Article
- het gareel
- Plural
- de garelen
- Diminutive
- het gareeltje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het gareel is gemaakt van sterk leer.
The horsecollar is made of strong leather.
De boer deed het gareel om de nek van het paard.
The farmer put the horsecollar around the horse's neck.
Het oude gareel hangt in de stal.
The old horsecollar hangs in the stable.
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 gareel” rather than as “gareel” 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.