de of het zandkasteel?
het zandkasteel
sandcastle
noun · /ˈzɑnt.kɑs.ˌteːl/
It is “het zandkasteel”. The plural is “de zandkastelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zandkasteel
Forms
- Article
- het zandkasteel
- Plural
- de zandkastelen
- Diminutive
- het zandkasteeltje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Wij bouwen een groot zandkasteel.
We are building a large sandcastle.
Het zandkasteel was indrukwekkend hoog.
The sandcastle was impressively high.
De golven spoelden het zandkasteel weg.
The waves washed the sandcastle away.
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 zandkasteel” rather than as “zandkasteel” 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.