de of het kattenvoer?
het kattenvoer
cat food
noun · /ˈkɑ.tə(n)ˌvur/
It is “het kattenvoer”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kattenvoer
Forms
- Article
- het kattenvoer
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het kattenvoer staat in de kast.
The cat food is in the cupboard.
Vergeet niet het kattenvoer te kopen.
Don't forget to buy the cat food.
De kat eet graag kattenvoer.
The cat likes to eat cat food.
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 kattenvoer” rather than as “kattenvoer” 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.