de of het werktuig?
het werktuig
tool
noun · /ˈʋɛrk.tœy̯x/
It is “het werktuig”. The plural is “de werktuigen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: werktuig
Forms
- Article
- het werktuig
- Plural
- de werktuigen
- Diminutive
- het werktuigje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Dit werktuig is erg nuttig.
This tool is very useful.
Oude werktuigen kunnen nog steeds werken.
Old tools can still work.
Hij zocht het juiste werktuig voor de klus.
He looked for the right tool for the job.
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 werktuig” rather than as “werktuig” 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.