de of het karakter?
het karakter
character
noun · /ˌkaːˈrɑk.tər/
It is “het karakter”. The plural is “de karakters”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: karakter
Forms
- Article
- het karakter
- Plural
- de karakters
- Diminutive
- het karaktertje
- Also means
- numeric digit, role, in theatre, nature, backbone
- How common
- among the 5,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Hij heeft een sterk karakter.
He has a strong character.
Het karakter van de stad is veranderd.
The character of the city has changed.
Haar vrolijke karakter maakt haar geliefd.
Her cheerful character makes her beloved.
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 karakter” rather than as “karakter” 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.