de of het zebrapad?
het zebrapad
zebra crossing
noun · /ˈzeː.braːˌpɑt/
It is “het zebrapad”. The plural is “de zebrapaden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zebrapad
Forms
- Article
- het zebrapad
- Plural
- de zebrapaden
- Diminutive
- het zebrapaadje
- Also means
- crosswalk
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
We steken over bij het zebrapad.
We cross at the zebra crossing.
Gebruik altijd het zebrapad.
Always use the zebra crossing.
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 zebrapad” rather than as “zebrapad” 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.