de of het hooi?
het hooi
hay
noun · /ɦoːi̯/
It is “het hooi”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: hooi
Forms
- Article
- het hooi
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De paarden eten vers hooi.
The horses eat fresh hay.
Het hooi is droog genoeg.
The hay is dry enough.
Breng meer hooi naar de stal.
Bring more hay to 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 hooi” rather than as “hooi” 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.