de of het wetboek?
het wetboek
lawbook
noun · /ˈʋɛt.buk/
It is “het wetboek”. The plural is “de wetboeken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: wetboek
Forms
- Article
- het wetboek
- Plural
- de wetboeken
- Diminutive
- het wetboekje
- Also means
- code of law
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het wetboek is erg dik.
The lawbook is very thick.
De advocaat opent het wetboek.
The lawyer opens the lawbook.
Je moet in het wetboek kijken.
You have to look in the lawbook.
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 wetboek” rather than as “wetboek” 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.