de of het vaartuig?
het vaartuig
vessel
noun · /ˈvaːr.tœy̯x/
It is “het vaartuig”. The plural is “de vaartuigen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: vaartuig
Forms
- Article
- het vaartuig
- Plural
- de vaartuigen
- Diminutive
- het vaartuigje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het vaartuig voer de haven uit bij zonsopgang.
The vessel sailed out of the harbor at sunrise.
Verschillende vaartuigen werden aangemeerd aan de kade.
Several vessels were docked at the quay.
Het vaartuigje was perfect voor een dagtocht op het meer.
The small vessel was perfect for a day trip on the lake.
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 vaartuig” rather than as “vaartuig” 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.