de of het kapmes?
het kapmes
machete
noun · /ˈkɑp.mɛs/
It is “het kapmes”. The plural is “de kapmessen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kapmes
Forms
- Article
- het kapmes
- Plural
- de kapmessen
- Diminutive
- het kapmesje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hij gebruikte het kapmes voor de takken.
He used the machete for the branches.
Dat is geen bijl, maar een kapmes.
That is not an axe, but a machete.
Het kapmes hangt aan de muur.
The machete hangs on the wall.
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 kapmes” rather than as “kapmes” 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.