de of het servet?
het servet
napkin
noun · /sɛrˈvɛt/
It is “het servet”. The plural is “de servetten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: servet
Forms
- Article
- het servet
- Plural
- de servetten
- Diminutive
- het servetje
- Also means
- serviette
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mag ik een servet, alstublieft?
May I have a napkin, please?
Het servet ligt naast je bord.
The napkin is next to your plate.
We hebben meer servetten nodig voor het feest.
We need more napkins for the party.
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 servet” rather than as “servet” 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.