de of het nachthemd?
het nachthemd
nightgown
noun
It is “het nachthemd”. The plural is “de nachthemden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: nachthemd
Forms
- Article
- het nachthemd
- Plural
- de nachthemden
- Diminutive
- het nachthemdje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ze droeg een comfortabel nachthemd.
She wore a comfortable nightgown.
Is dit jouw nieuwe nachthemd?
Is this your new nightgown?
Ik zoek een mooi nachthemd.
I am looking for a beautiful nightgown.
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 nachthemd” rather than as “nachthemd” 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.