de of het voorjaar?
het voorjaar
spring
noun · /ˈvoːr.jaːr/
It is “het voorjaar”. The plural is “de voorjaren”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: voorjaar
Forms
- Article
- het voorjaar
- Plural
- de voorjaren
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het voorjaar is mijn favoriete seizoen.
Spring is my favourite season.
In het voorjaar gaan we vaak wandelen.
In spring, we often go for walks.
Het voorjaar brengt nieuwe bloei.
Spring brings new bloom.
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 voorjaar” rather than as “voorjaar” 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.