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De or het neef?

← Dutch words

de neef

male cousin

Forms

Singular
de neef
Plural
de neven
Diminutive
het neefje

Why de?

  • No reliable spelling rule decides this one, so de neef is learned together with the word.
  • Every plural takes de, so it is de neven whatever the singular takes.
  • Every diminutive takes het: het neefje.

The rules for de and het, with the exceptions

Meaning in English

  1. male cousin
  2. nephew

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