de of het mahonie?
het mahonie
mahogany
noun · /maːˈɦoː.ni/
It is “het mahonie”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: mahonie
Forms
- Article
- het mahonie
- Also means
- oregon grape
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De tafel is gemaakt van prachtig mahonie.
The table is made of beautiful mahogany.
Ik hou van de warme kleur mahonie.
I love the warm mahogany color.
Het mahonie in de kast glimt mooi.
The mahogany in the cabinet shines beautifully.
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 mahonie” rather than as “mahonie” 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.