de of het kaneel?
het kaneel
cinnamon
noun · /kaːˈneːl/
It is “het kaneel”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kaneel
Forms
- Article
- het kaneel
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik doe graag kaneel op mijn pannenkoeken.
I like to put cinnamon on my pancakes.
Het kaneel in dit potje ruikt heerlijk.
The cinnamon in this jar smells wonderful.
Voeg een snufje kaneel toe aan de appelcompote.
Add a pinch of cinnamon to the apple compote.
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 kaneel” rather than as “kaneel” 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.