de of het stadsplein?
het stadsplein
city square
noun · /ˈstɑts.plɛi̯n/
It is “het stadsplein”. The plural is “de stadspleinen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: stadsplein
Forms
- Article
- het stadsplein
- Plural
- de stadspleinen
- Diminutive
- het stadspleintje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het stadsplein is erg gezellig.
The city square is very cozy.
Op het stadsplein staat een oude boom.
An old tree stands on the city square.
Laten we naar het stadsplein gaan.
Let's go to the city square.
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 stadsplein” rather than as “stadsplein” 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.