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De or het spel?

← Dutch words

het spel

game

/spɛl/

Forms

Singular
het spel
Plural
de spellen
Diminutive
het spelletje

Why het?

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

The rules for de and het, with the exceptions

Meaning in English

  1. game
  2. playing (e.g. of a musical instrument)

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