de of het hondenhok?
het hondenhok
doghouse
noun · /ˈɦɔn.də(n)ˌɦɔk/
It is “het hondenhok”. The plural is “de hondenhokken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: hondenhok
Forms
- Article
- het hondenhok
- Plural
- de hondenhokken
- Diminutive
- het hondenhokje
- Also means
- kennel
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het hondenhok staat in de tuin.
The doghouse is in the garden.
Ik schilder het hondenhok blauw.
I am painting the doghouse blue.
Dit is het hondenhok van Max.
This is Max's doghouse.
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 hondenhok” rather than as “hondenhok” 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.