de of het kontgat?
het kontgat
butthole
noun · /ˈkɔnt.xɑt/
It is “het kontgat”. The plural is “de kontgaten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kontgat
Forms
- Article
- het kontgat
- Plural
- de kontgaten
- Diminutive
- het kontgaatje
- Also means
- anus
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het kontgat kan erg gevoelig zijn.
The butthole can be very sensitive.
Die parkeerplek is een kontgat van een plek.
That parking spot is a butthole of a spot.
Ik krijg dit touw niet door dat kontgat.
I can't get this rope through that butthole.
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 kontgat” rather than as “kontgat” 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.