de of het zelfportret?
het zelfportret
self-portrait
noun · /ˈzɛlfpɔrˌtrɛt/
It is “het zelfportret”. The plural is “de zelfportretten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zelfportret
Forms
- Article
- het zelfportret
- Plural
- de zelfportretten
- Diminutive
- het zelfportretje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De kunstenaar schilderde een prachtig zelfportret.
The artist painted a beautiful self-portrait.
Ze werkt nu aan een nieuw zelfportret.
She is currently working on a new self-portrait.
Het zelfportret hangt in de woonkamer.
The self-portrait hangs in the living room.
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 zelfportret” rather than as “zelfportret” 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.