de of het wrattenzwijn?
het wrattenzwijn
warthog
noun · /ˈvrɑ.tə(n)ˌzʋɛi̯n/
It is “het wrattenzwijn”. The plural is “de wrattenzwijnen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: wrattenzwijn
Forms
- Article
- het wrattenzwijn
- Plural
- de wrattenzwijnen
- Diminutive
- het wrattenzwijntje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het wrattenzwijn leeft in Afrika.
The warthog lives in Africa.
Wrattenzwijnen eten gras en wortels.
Warthogs eat grass and roots.
Een wrattenzwijn heeft opvallende slagtanden.
A warthog has striking tusks.
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 wrattenzwijn” rather than as “wrattenzwijn” 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.