# De or het? How to learn Dutch articles

> De, het and een: how Dutch articles work. With rules of thumb you can trust, lots of examples and tips for speakers of Farsi or Dari.

Published on 2026-09-24, last checked against official sources on 2026-09-24.
URL: https://taalpro.nl/en/guides/de-or-het-dutch-articles/

## In short

- Dutch has two definite articles, de and het; which one goes with a noun is something you usually have to learn word by word.
- In Dutch, the plural article is always de, and a diminutive ending in -je is always a het-word: de huizen (the houses), het huisje (the little house).
- Dutch nouns ending in -heid, -ing and -tie are de-words, nouns ending in -isme are het-words, and nouns ending in -ment are usually het-words.
- Learn every new Dutch noun together with its article: not ‘huis’, but ‘het huis’ (the house).

In Dutch, a noun often has a small word in front of it: *de*, *het* or *een*. These are articles. In this lesson you learn when to use *de* and when to use *het*, which rules really work, and the easiest way to remember them.

## De, het and een

*De* and *het* both mean ‘the’. You use them for something known or specific: *de tafel* (the table, this one here). *Een* means ‘a’ or ‘an’: *een tafel* (a table).

Every noun is either a **de-word** or a **het-word**. With *een* you don't have to choose: *een* works for both.

| de-word | het-word |
| --- | --- |
| de tafel – een tafel (table) | het huis – een huis (house) |
| de man – een man (man) | het kind – een kind (child) |
| de stoel – een stoel (chair) | het boek – een boek (book) |
| de fiets – een fiets (bicycle) | het raam – een raam (window) |

There are more de-words than het-words. But for most words there is no rule: you have to learn the article word by word.

## Plural: always de

In the plural, the article is always *de*, even for het-words. *Een* has no plural form.

| singular | plural |
| --- | --- |
| het huis | de huizen (the houses) |
| het kind | de kinderen (the children) |
| de tafel | de tafels (the tables) |
| een boek | boeken (books) |

## Diminutives: always het

You make a diminutive (a ‘small’ form) with *-je* (or *-tje*, *-pje*, *-etje*). A diminutive is always a het-word, even if the normal word is a de-word.

- de tafel → het tafeltje (little table)
- de boom → het boompje (little tree)
- de bloem → het bloemetje (little flower)
- het huis → het huisje (little house)

That is why it is *het meisje* (the girl): the word ends in *-je*.

## Rules of thumb you can trust

For some words, you can tell the article from the word itself. You can rely on these rules:

| Type of word | Article | Examples |
| --- | --- | --- |
| plural | always de | de boeken, de kinderen |
| diminutive (-je) | always het | het tafeltje, het meisje |
| ending in -heid | de | de gezondheid (health), de vrijheid (freedom) |
| ending in -ing (from a verb) | de | de woning (home), de oefening (exercise) |
| ending in -tie | de | de informatie, de politie (police) |
| a verb used as a noun | het | het eten (food), het leven (life) |
| names of languages | het | het Nederlands, het Farsi |
| ending in -isme | het | het toerisme (tourism), het racisme |
| ending in -ment | usually het | het moment, het document |
| people and jobs | usually de | de vrouw (woman), de docent (teacher), de arts (doctor) |

Watch out for the exceptions with people: *het kind* (child) and *het meisje* (girl) are het-words.

## Tip: learn the article with the word

- Never learn just *huis*; always learn *het huis*. Say it out loud.
- Make two lists: one with de-words and one with het-words.
- Not sure? Look the word up in the official Dutch word list (the *Groene Boekje*) at [woordenlijst.org](https://woordenlijst.org/). It shows whether a noun is a de-word or a het-word.

## Die or dat, deze or dit

The words for ‘this’ and ‘that’ also depend on the article:

| | with a de-word | with a het-word |
| --- | --- | --- |
| this (here, close by) | deze stoel | dit boek |
| that (there, further away) | die stoel | dat boek |
| who/which/that | de man die hier woont (the man who lives here) | het boek dat ik lees (the book that I am reading) |

In the plural you always use *deze* or *die*: *deze boeken* (these books), *die kinderen* (those children).

## Groot or grote?

An adjective (such as *groot* ‘big’, *mooi* ‘beautiful’, *nieuw* ‘new’) often comes before a noun. It usually gets an extra *-e*. With a het-word in the singular after *een*, or without an article, there is no *-e*.

| | de-word | het-word |
| --- | --- | --- |
| with de or het | de grote tafel | het grote huis |
| with een | een grote tafel | een groot huis |
| plural | de grote tafels | de grote huizen |

Without an article: *koud water* (cold water) and *vers brood* (fresh bread) are het-words, so no *-e*; but *warme soep* (warm soup) is a de-word. Watch the spelling: *groot* becomes *grote*, *dik* (thick) becomes *dikke*.

## If you speak Farsi or Dari

- Persian has no words like *de* and *het*. So it is normal to forget the article at first. In Dutch, a countable noun in the singular (such as *auto* ‘car’ or *boek* ‘book’) almost always has something in front of it: *de*, *het*, *een*, or a word like *mijn* (my) or *deze* (this). So don't say *Ik heb auto*, but *Ik heb een auto* (I have a car).
- In Persian, words are not masculine or feminine. In Dutch, *de* or *het* doesn't tell you whether someone is a man or a woman either: *de man* and *de vrouw* are both de-words, and *het meisje* (the girl) is a het-word.
- In Persian, the adjective comes after the noun: literally ‘house big’. In Dutch it comes before the noun: *een groot huis* (a big house).
- Good news: in the plural you don't have to think. It is always *de*.

You can practise this in the [A1 course](https://taalpro.nl/en/courses/a1-civic-integration-exam-abroad-mvv/) or with the free [A1 word list](https://taalpro.nl/en/dutch-a1-word-list/).

## Sources

- Taaladvies.net (Taalunie): https://taaladvies.net/woordgeslacht-algemeen/
- Taaladvies.net (Taalunie): https://taaladvies.net/wel-of-geen-e-achter-een-bijvoeglijk-naamwoord-algemeen/
- Woordenlijst (Taalunie): https://woordenlijst.org/

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Source: TaalPro, online institute for Dutch as a second language (https://taalpro.nl/en/guides/de-or-het-dutch-articles/). Rules can change: the official websites (DUO, IND, CvTE) always take precedence.