De or het leven?
het leven
life (act or duration of living)
/ˈleːvə(n)/
As a noun: Article and plural
- Singular
- het leven
- Plural (meervoud)
- de levens
- Diminutive
- het leventje
Why het?
- No reliable spelling rule decides this one, so het leven is learned together with the word.
- Every plural takes de, so it is de levens whatever the singular takes.
- Every diminutive takes het: het leventje.
The rules for de and het, with the exceptions
Check the article of another noun
What het changes
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| this, these | dit leven | deze levens |
| that, those | dat leven | die levens |
| which (the … that) | het leven dat … | de levens die … |
| our | ons leven | onze levens |
As a noun: Meaning in English
- life (act or duration of living)
- life, biography (particularly, but not necessarily a hagiography)
- a life (a chance to play)
- health (the amount of damage a character can withstand)
As a verb: Conjugation of leven
| Person | Present | Past | Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| ik | leef | leefde | heb geleefd |
| jij, u | leeft | leefde | hebt geleefd |
| hij, zij, het | leeft | leefde | heeft geleefd |
| wij, jullie, zij | leven | leefden | hebben geleefd |
- Past participle: geleefd, with hebben.
As a verb: Meaning in English
- to live
Remember leven 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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