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Parts of speech - Woordsoorten
Article - Lidwoord
Dutch has two definite articles (the equivalent of English 'the') and one indefinite artice (the equivalent of English 'a(n)').
DEFINITE ARTICLE - bepaald lidwoord
In Dutch there are two words for the definite article, namely de and het . De is used with common gender nouns (i.e. masculine and feminine nouns) and all plurals. Het is used with neuter gender nouns (including diminutives) in the singular.
Knowing whether a noun is common gender ( de -word) or neuter gender ( het -word) is very important, because it has repercussions for the >endings of adjectives. Therefore: learn all nouns together with their articles.
For example:
Ik heb een leuke buurvrouw. (buurvrouw is a common gender noun)
Ik heb een leuk huis. (huis is a neuter gender noun)
INDEFINITE ARTICLE - Onbepaald lidwoord
The indefinite article in Dutch is een. Do not confuse this with the numeral één .
Whether the noun is common or neuter gender (and therefore whatever the definite article), the indefinite article is always een. For example:
| de huisgenoot (definite) |
een huisgenoot (indefinite) |
| het bijvak (definite) |
een bijvak (indefinite) |
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