de of het schetsboek?
het schetsboek
sketchbook
noun · /ˈsxɛts.buk/
It is “het schetsboek”. The plural is “de schetsboeken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: schetsboek
Forms
- Article
- het schetsboek
- Plural
- de schetsboeken
- Diminutive
- het schetsboekje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn schetsboek ligt op de bank.
My sketchbook is on the couch.
Ze tekent graag in haar schetsboek.
She likes to draw in her sketchbook.
Ik heb een nieuw schetsboek gekocht.
I bought a new sketchbook.
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 schetsboek” rather than as “schetsboek” 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.