de of het rund?
het rund
cow
noun · /rʏnt/
It is “het rund”. The plural is “de runderen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: rund
Forms
- Article
- het rund
- Plural
- de runderen
- Diminutive
- het rundje
- Also means
- idiot, stupid person
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Je bent een rund als je met vuurwerk stunt.
You're an idiot if you mess around with fireworks.
Het rund graasde rustig in de wei.
The bovine grazed peacefully in the meadow.
Boeren houden runderen voor melk en vlees.
Farmers keep cattle for milk and meat.
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 rund” rather than as “rund” 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.