de of het zwempak?
het zwempak
swimsuit
noun · /ˈzʋɛm.pɑk/
It is “het zwempak”. The plural is “de zwempakken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zwempak
Forms
- Article
- het zwempak
- Plural
- de zwempakken
- Diminutive
- het zwempakje
- Also means
- bathing suit
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn zwempak ligt in de kast.
My swimsuit is in the closet.
Ik pak mijn zwempak in voor de vakantie.
I'm packing my swimsuit for the holiday.
Dat blauwe zwempak staat je goed.
That blue swimsuit suits you well.
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 zwempak” rather than as “zwempak” 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.