de of het stinkdier?
het stinkdier
skunk
noun · /ˈstɪŋk.diːr/
It is “het stinkdier”. The plural is “de stinkdieren”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: stinkdier
Forms
- Article
- het stinkdier
- Plural
- de stinkdieren
- Diminutive
- het stinkdiertje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik zag een stinkdier langs de weg lopen.
I saw a skunk walking along the road.
Het stinkdier staat bekend om zijn geur.
The skunk is known for its smell.
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 stinkdier” rather than as “stinkdier” 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.