de of het wasmiddel?
het wasmiddel
laundry detergent
noun · /ˈʋɑsˌmɪ.dəl/
It is “het wasmiddel”. The plural is “de wasmiddelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: wasmiddel
Forms
- Article
- het wasmiddel
- Plural
- de wasmiddelen
- Also means
- washing agent
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik moet nog wasmiddel kopen.
I still need to buy laundry detergent.
Welk wasmiddel gebruik jij meestal?
Which laundry detergent do you usually use?
Het wasmiddel is bijna op.
The laundry detergent is almost out.
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 wasmiddel” rather than as “wasmiddel” 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.