de of het kalfsvlees?
het kalfsvlees
veal
noun · /ˈkɑlfs.fleːs/
It is “het kalfsvlees”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kalfsvlees
Forms
- Article
- het kalfsvlees
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik eet graag kalfsvlees.
I like to eat veal.
Hebben jullie kalfsvlees in de aanbieding?
Do you have veal on offer?
Voeg het kalfsvlees toe aan de pan.
Add the veal to the pan.
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 kalfsvlees” rather than as “kalfsvlees” 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.