de of het voedsel?
het voedsel
food
noun · /ˈvut.səl/
It is “het voedsel”. The plural is “de voedsels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: voedsel
Forms
- Article
- het voedsel
- Plural
- de voedsels
- Also means
- nutrient
- How common
- among the 2,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Er is voldoende voedsel voor iedereen op het feest.
There is enough food for everyone at the party.
Groenten en fruit zijn gezond voedsel.
Vegetables and fruits are healthy food.
Ze doneren voedsel aan het lokale opvangcentrum.
They donate food to the local shelter.
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 voedsel” rather than as “voedsel” 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.