Language/Dutch/Grammar/Nouns

Dutch Grammar - Nouns

Hi Dutch learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will dive into the Dutch grammar rules regarding nouns. Nouns are an essential part of any language, and learning how they work in Dutch will help you develop your conversational skills. We will cover everything from gender to plural forms, so let's get started!

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Future Tense, Conditional Mood in Dutch, Prepositions of Place and Time & The Dative Case in Dutch.

Gender

In Dutch, every noun has a gender either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Unfortunately, there are no rules to determine the gender of nouns. Therefore, you have to learn the gender of each noun individually. However, there are a few generalizations that can help you guess the gender of some words:

• Words that end in -e are usually feminine, such as "de appel" (the apple)
• Words that end in -heid, -nis, -schap, -ing, or -teit are usually feminine, such as "de vrijheid" (the freedom)
• Words that end in -isme, -ment, -aar, or -ie are usually masculine, such as "de student" (the student)
• Words that end in -sel, -um, or -aar are usually neuter, such as "het meisje" (the girl)

Articles

The article has to agree with the gender of the noun it accompanies. In Dutch, there are two types of articles: definite and indefinite.

Definite Articles

In English, the definite article is "the." In Dutch, there are two forms of the definite article depending on the gender of the noun: "de" for masculine and feminine nouns, and "het" for neuter nouns. Here are some examples of the definite article in action:

Dutch	Pronunciation	English
de man	de man	the man
de vrouw	de vrouw	the woman
het kind	het kind	the child

Indefinite Articles

In English, the indefinite article is "a" or "an." In Dutch, the indefinite article also varies depending on the gender of the noun: "een" for masculine and feminine nouns, and "een" for neuter nouns:

Dutch	Pronunciation	English
een boek	een boek	a book
een tafel	een tafel	a table
een huis	een huis	a house

Plural Forms

In Dutch, the plural is formed by adding -en to a masculine or feminine noun and -s to a neuter noun. However, some nouns have irregular plural forms that you will have to learn as you go. Here are some examples:

Dutch	Pronunciation	English
de man	de man-nen	the men
de vrouw	de vrouw-en	the women
het huis	de huis-sen	the houses

Dialogue

Eva and Lars are discussing the gender of the words "book" and "computer."

• Eva: "Is 'boek' masculine, feminine, or neuter?" ('boek' = 'book')
• Lars: "It is a neuter noun, so it's 'het boek'." ('het boek' = 'the book')
• Eva: "What about 'computer'?" ('computer' = 'computer')
• Lars: "It's a masculine noun, so it's 'de computer'." ('de computer' = 'the computer')

Practice

Here are a few exercises to practice what you have learned:

1. What is the gender of the words: "de auto," "het raam," and "het boek"? 2. Form the plural of the words: "de hand," "de moeder," and "het brood." 3. Fill in the blanks with the correct article: "______ auto" and "______ vrouw."

1. 1. Answers: ##

1. "de auto" (masculine), "het raam" (neuter), and "het boek" (neuter) 2. "de handen," "de moeders," and "de broden" 3. "De auto" and "de vrouw"

If you want to practice more, find native speakers and ask them any questions. You can also improve your Dutch Grammar on Polyglot Club website.

Sources

• Dutch grammar - Wikipedia
• The Basics of Dutch Grammar
• Gender in Dutch grammar - Wikipedia

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Other Lessons

• Questions
• Interrogative words in Dutch
• Conditional Mood
• Ablative Case in Dutch
• Conditional Mood in Dutch
• Definite Articles in Dutch
• Present Continuous in Dutch
• How to use “to speak” in Dutch
• How to use “must” in Dutch
• Plural