Introduction
Introductie
Articles are words like "a" and "the". Dutch has four articles, which is comparatively few compared to Old Dutch which like German made distinctions between three genders and four cases.
Modern Dutch has two definite articles (de and het, both mean "the"), distinguished by gender, one indefinite article (een, means "a") and a negative indefinite article (geen, means "not any").
The reason Dutch has two definite articles is because it distinguishes between common and neuter nouns. Common nouns where historically masculine and feminine nouns, but have become grammatically identical, and use de. Het is used with neuter singular nouns, which like German neuter nouns require the masculine (or in the case "common") article for plurals, de.
The indefinite article, een, is used just like you would use "a" in English. The negative indefinite article geen however, is particular in that English doesn't have a counterpart, but it is used like "not any" or "not a" in English.
In the case of an indefinite plural article like the English word "some", Dutch simply uses the plural noun without any preceding modifier.
It is also important to note that in conversation and informal text het and een are often shorted to 't and 'n because their pronunciation tends to blend with the surrounding words. Like with English contractions, formal writing maintains the uncontracted words.
Modern Dutch has two definite articles (de and het, both mean "the"), distinguished by gender, one indefinite article (een, means "a") and a negative indefinite article (geen, means "not any").
The reason Dutch has two definite articles is because it distinguishes between common and neuter nouns. Common nouns where historically masculine and feminine nouns, but have become grammatically identical, and use de. Het is used with neuter singular nouns, which like German neuter nouns require the masculine (or in the case "common") article for plurals, de.
The indefinite article, een, is used just like you would use "a" in English. The negative indefinite article geen however, is particular in that English doesn't have a counterpart, but it is used like "not any" or "not a" in English.
In the case of an indefinite plural article like the English word "some", Dutch simply uses the plural noun without any preceding modifier.
It is also important to note that in conversation and informal text het and een are often shorted to 't and 'n because their pronunciation tends to blend with the surrounding words. Like with English contractions, formal writing maintains the uncontracted words.
Vocabulary
Vocabulaire
het
the
neuter definite
de
the
common definite
een
a
indefinite
geen
not any
indefinite
not a
indefinite
Phrases
Zinnen
de man
the man
de vrouw
the woman
het huis
the house
het meisje
the girl
de mannen
the men
de vrouwen
the women
de huizen
the houses
een man
a man
een vrouw
a woman
een huis
a house
een boek
a book
geen man
not a man
geen vrouw
not a woman
geen huis
not a house
geen boek
not a book
Related Lessons
Gerelateerde lessen
How Are You?
Hoe gaat het?
Social Etiquette
Etiquette
Meeting People
Mensen ontmoeten
Present Tense
Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd
To Have
Hebben