de of het kaarsvet?
het kaarsvet
candle wax
noun · /ˈkaːrsvɛt/
It is “het kaarsvet”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kaarsvet
Forms
- Article
- het kaarsvet
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het kaarsvet druppelde op de tafel.
The candle wax dripped onto the table.
Kaarsvet op kleding is moeilijk te verwijderen.
Candle wax on clothes is difficult to remove.
De geur van gesmolten kaarsvet vulde de kamer.
The smell of melted candle wax filled the room.
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 kaarsvet” rather than as “kaarsvet” 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.