de of het klimrek?
het klimrek
jungle gym
noun
It is “het klimrek”. The plural is “de klimrekken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: klimrek
Forms
- Article
- het klimrek
- Plural
- de klimrekken
- Diminutive
- het klimrekje
- Also means
- climbing frame
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De kinderen spelen op het klimrek in de speeltuin.
The children are playing on the jungle gym in the playground.
Hij heeft een klimrek in zijn achtertuin voor zijn kinderen.
He has a climbing frame in his backyard for his children.
Het klimrekje in de kleuterschool is erg populair.
The small climbing frame in the kindergarten is very popular.
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 klimrek” rather than as “klimrek” 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.