de of het waspoeder?
het waspoeder
washing powder
noun · /ˈʋɑsˌpu.dər/
It is “het waspoeder”. The plural is “de waspoeders”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: waspoeder
Forms
- Article
- het waspoeder
- Plural
- de waspoeders
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Waar staat het waspoeder?
Where is the washing powder?
Doe wat waspoeder in de machine.
Put some washing powder in the machine.
Dit waspoeder ruikt heerlijk fris.
This washing powder smells wonderfully fresh.
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 waspoeder” rather than as “waspoeder” 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.