de of het zeildoek?
het zeildoek
canvas
noun · /ˈzɛi̯l.duk/
It is “het zeildoek”. The plural is “de zeildoeken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zeildoek
Forms
- Article
- het zeildoek
- Plural
- de zeildoeken
- Diminutive
- het zeildoekje
- Also means
- sail, rag
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het zeildoek is erg sterk.
The sailcloth is very strong.
We kochten nieuw zeildoek voor de zeilboot.
We bought new sailcloth for the sailboat.
De kleur van het zeildoek vervaagt snel.
The color of the sailcloth fades quickly.
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 zeildoek” rather than as “zeildoek” 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.