de of het valluik?
het valluik
trapdoor
noun · /ˈvɑ.lœy̯k/
It is “het valluik”. The plural is “de valluiken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: valluik
Forms
- Article
- het valluik
- Plural
- de valluiken
- Diminutive
- het valluikje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het valluik zit in de vloer.
The trapdoor is in the floor.
We openden het oude valluik voorzichtig.
We carefully opened the old trapdoor.
Onder het valluik is een kelder.
Under the trapdoor is a cellar.
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 valluik” rather than as “valluik” 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.