de of het zakgeld?
het zakgeld
pocket money
noun · /ˈzɑk.xɛlt/
It is “het zakgeld”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zakgeld
Forms
- Article
- het zakgeld
- Also means
- carers
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik krijg elke week zakgeld.
I get pocket money every week.
Hij spaart zijn zakgeld voor een nieuw spel.
He saves his pocket money for a new game.
Mijn zakgeld is al op.
My pocket money is already gone.
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 zakgeld” rather than as “zakgeld” 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.