de of het paardenvlees?
het paardenvlees
horsemeat
noun · /ˈpaːr.də(n)ˌvleːs/
It is “het paardenvlees”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: paardenvlees
Forms
- Article
- het paardenvlees
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik eet geen paardenvlees.
I don't eat horsemeat.
Eet jij wel eens paardenvlees?
Do you ever eat horsemeat?
Het paardenvlees was erg lekker.
The horsemeat was very tasty.
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 paardenvlees” rather than as “paardenvlees” 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.