de of het kreupelhout?
het kreupelhout
undergrowth
noun · /ˈkrøː.pəlˌɦɑu̯t/
It is “het kreupelhout”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kreupelhout
Forms
- Article
- het kreupelhout
- Also means
- brushwood
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De kinderen speelden bij het kreupelhout.
The children played near the undergrowth.
Er verborg zich iets in het kreupelhout.
Something was hiding in the undergrowth.
De boswachter haalde het kreupelhout weg.
The forester removed the undergrowth.
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 kreupelhout” rather than as “kreupelhout” 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.