Definite Articles: 'de' and 'het' (A1)

In Dutch, the word for "the" can be either de or het. These are called definite articles.

• Which one to use? Unfortunately, there are few reliable rules. You generally need to learn whether a noun takes de or het along with the noun itself.
• Gender: Historically, de was used for masculine and feminine nouns, and het for neuter nouns. While gender isn't as crucial grammatically now as in German, it's the origin of the de/het distinction.

General Guidelines (Not Perfect Rules!):

• Plural Nouns: All plural nouns use de.
• de mannen (the men)
• de huizen (the houses)
• de boeken (the books)
• People: Nouns referring to people are usually de.
• de man (the man), de vrouw (the woman), de leraar (the teacher), de student (the student)
• Diminutives (-je, -tje, etc.): Nouns ending in diminutive suffixes are always het.
• het meisje (the girl), het huisje (the little house), het boekje (the booklet)
• Languages: Names of languages are het.
• het Nederlands, het Engels
• Infinitives used as nouns: These are het.
• het eten (the food/eating), het lezen (the reading)

Examples:

• De man leest. (The man reads.)
• Het huis is groot. (The house is big.)
• Ik zie de fietsen. (I see the bicycles.)
• Het meisje lacht. (The girl laughs.)

Tip: When learning new nouns, always learn them with their article (de or het). Use a dictionary or vocabulary list.