Grammatika Olandiza • De-nouns

Nouns and articles exercises link

De or Het? Taalunieversum

Tradott mill-Ingliz minn ...

The absence of rules applies to het-nouns as well as to de-nouns. But there a few guidelines for de nouns.

De-nouns hints

Plural nouns

All plural nouns take the article 'de' regardless of whether their singular forms are de or het words.

de planeten	the planets	de potloden	the pencils
de druppels	the drops	de boten	the boats
de gedachten	the thoughts	de kinderen	the children
de handen	the hands	de lijnen	the lines

Obviously feminine or masculine nouns

Although most words are not obviously feminine or masculine, 'de' is the article used for feminine and masculine nouns. Some words leave no doubt about their genders, which makes it easy to see that they take 'de'.

de vrouw	the woman	de man	the man
de teef	the bitch (female dog!)	de hengst	the stallion
de koningin	the queen	de koning	the king
de meid	the maid	de jongen	the boy

Nouns ending in -ing (feminine)

These nouns are derived from verbs.

de betaling	the payment	de verovering	the conquest
de uitnodiging	the invitation	de rekening	the bill
de betovering	the spell	de opening	the opening
de ontdekking	the discovery	de hervorming	the reform

Nouns ending in -tie, -thie, and -sie (feminine)

de politie	the police	de petitie	the petition
de executie	the execution	de tractatie	the treat
de sympathie	the sympathie	de empathie	the empathy
de visie	the vision	de fusie	the merge

Nouns ending in -or (masculine)

de motor	the motor	de generator	the generator
de monitor	the professor	de perforator	the perforator
de professor	the professor	de factor	the factor
de alligator	the alligator	de radiator	the radiator

Persons

Nouns that refer to persons are almost always de nouns. This makes sense, since generally speaking, persons are either feminine or masculine.

Family

de moeder	the mother	de vader	the father
de dochter	the daughter	de zoon	the son
de kleindochter	the granddaughter	de kleinzoon	the grandson
de tante	the aunt	de oom	the uncle
de nicht	the cousin (f) , niece	de neef	the cousin (m), nephew
de grootmoeder	the grandmother	de grootvader	the grandfather
de oma	the grandma	de opa	the grandpa

But: we say het kind (the child).

Nouns ending in -aar (masculine)

These are derived from verbs

de handelaar	the trader	de molenaar	the miller
de veroveraar	the conqueror	de tovenaar	the wizard
de leugenaar	the liar	de dienaar	the servant
de minnaar	the lover	de ambtenaar	the civil servant

Nouns ending in -eur (masculine)

Usually of a Latin origin.

de programmeur	the programmer	de acteur	the actor
de adviseur	the consultant	de profiteur	the parasite
de amateur	the amateur	de directeur	the chief executive
de auteur	the author	de instructeur	the instructor

Words ending in -er (masculine)

Just like in English, the most common ending for agents of a verb (to work - a worker, to sing - a singer).

de verkoper	the seller, salesman	de danser	the dancer
de slager	the butcher	de bakker	the baker
de dokter	the doctor	de schrijver	the writer
de zanger	the singer	de dromer	the dreamer

Female endings

These nouns fall under the category 'obviously feminine nouns'.

de verkoopster (verkoper)	the saleswoman	de danseres (danser)	the dancer (f)
de actrice (acteur)	the actress	de zangeres (zanger)	the singer (f)
de keizerin (keizer)	the empress	de directrice (directeur)	the chief executive (f)
de minnares	the lover (f) , mistress	de kokkin (kok)	the cook (f)