De or het dief?
de dief
a thief, one who steals
/dif/
Article and plural
- Singular
- de dief
- Plural (meervoud)
- de dieven
- Diminutive
- het diefje
Why de?
- No reliable spelling rule decides this one, so de dief is learned together with the word.
- Every plural takes de, so it is de dieven whatever the singular takes.
- Every diminutive takes het: het diefje.
The rules for de and het, with the exceptions
Check the article of another noun
What de changes
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| this, these | deze dief | deze dieven |
| that, those | die dief | die dieven |
| which (the … that) | de dief die … | de dieven die … |
| our | onze dief | onze dieven |
Meaning in English
- a thief, one who steals
Remember dief with Spreek
Spreek keeps the Dutch words you meet, article included, reviews them with you and then has you use them in a spoken conversation.
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