de of het plakband?
het plakband
sticky tape
noun · /ˈplɑk.bɑnt/
It is “het plakband”. The plural is “de plakbanden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: plakband
Forms
- Article
- het plakband
- Plural
- de plakbanden
- Diminutive
- het plakbandje
- Also means
- adhesive tape
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik kan het beginnetje van de rol plakband niet vinden.
I can't find the end of the roll of adhesive tape.
Heb je wat plakband voor me?
Do you have some tape for me?
Het plakband ligt in de keukenla.
The tape is in the kitchen drawer.
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 plakband” rather than as “plakband” 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.