de of het koffiezetapparaat?
het koffiezetapparaat
coffeemaker
noun · /ˈkɔ.fi.zɛt.ɑ.paːˌraːt/
It is “het koffiezetapparaat”. The plural is “de koffiezetapparaten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: koffiezetapparaat
Forms
- Article
- het koffiezetapparaat
- Plural
- de koffiezetapparaten
- Diminutive
- het koffiezetapparaatje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het koffiezetapparaat staat op het aanrecht.
The coffeemaker is on the counter.
Heb je het koffiezetapparaat al aangezet?
Have you turned on the coffeemaker yet?
Ons oude koffiezetapparaat is kapot.
Our old coffeemaker is broken.
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 koffiezetapparaat” rather than as “koffiezetapparaat” 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.