de of het kraanwater?
het kraanwater
tap water
noun · /ˈkraːnˌʋaː.tər/
It is “het kraanwater”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kraanwater
Forms
- Article
- het kraanwater
- Also means
- running water
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Is kraanwater hier drinkbaar?
Is tap water drinkable here?
Ik drink liever kraanwater dan frisdrank.
I prefer tap water to soda.
Vul de fles met kraanwater.
Fill the bottle with tap water.
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 kraanwater” rather than as “kraanwater” 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.