de of het konijn?
het konijn
rabbit
noun · /koːˈnɛi̯n/
It is “het konijn”. The plural is “de konijnen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: konijn
Forms
- Article
- het konijn
- Plural
- de konijnen
- Diminutive
- het konijntje
- Also means
- bunny
- How common
- among the 5,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Het konijn eet graag klaver.
The rabbit likes to eat clover.
Wij hebben een wit konijn als huisdier.
We have a white rabbit as a pet.
De konijnen graven tunnels in de grond.
The rabbits dig tunnels in the ground.
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 konijn” rather than as “konijn” 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.