de of het toneel?
het toneel
stage
noun · /toːˈneːl/
It is “het toneel”. The plural is “de tonelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: toneel
Forms
- Article
- het toneel
- Plural
- de tonelen
- Diminutive
- het toneeltje
- Also means
- scene, depiction on stage, theatre, dramatical arts, site
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
De acteur loopt nu het toneel op.
The actor is now walking onto the stage.
Er staat een piano op het toneel.
There is a piano on the stage.
Het toneel was mooi versierd voor de show.
The stage was beautifully decorated for the show.
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 toneel” rather than as “toneel” 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.