Dutch nouns
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Sign up for freeIn this chapter you will learn about the Dutch nouns. In this chapter you can learn how to use nouns and how to form them. In the subchapters you will learn about the gender of nouns, the plural, diminutives and compound nouns.
Lesson outline
HideDefinition and usage of the Dutch nouns.
Nouns are words that describe objects, people, animals, events, places and ideas. Nouns can be used with an indefinite article ('een') or with a definite article ('de' / 'het').
Indefinite nouns are used when people talk about something in general or when people think others might not know what they are talking about.
Examples:
- Een hond (a dog)
- Een glas (a glass)
- Een brood (a bread)
Definite nouns are used when people are sure that others know what they are talking about. There are no rules to determine if a word gets 'de' or 'het'.
Examples:
- Het kind (the child)
- Het bureau (the desk)
- De politie (the police)
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Jonathan V. 
Job D.
Angelo V.
Marijke G. 
Saskia D.
Michel B.
Ana M.
Paul K.
Elena P. 
Rignald I. 
Countable and uncountable nouns in Dutch
The Dutch language has countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns are objects that can be counted. Uncountable nouns can't be counted or need another element to be able to count them.
For example:
- De melk (the milk). → uncountable
- You can not say: 'de melken' (the milks), but you can say: 'een glas melk' (a glass of milk). → countable
The table below shows examples of countable and uncountable nouns.
| Countable nouns | Example | Uncountable nouns | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Het huis (the house) | Wij bouwen twee huizen. (We build two houses.) | De liefde (the love) | Hij geeft haar veel liefde. (He gives her a lot of love) |
| Het bord (the plate) | Er staat een bord op tafel. (There is a plate on the table.) | De melk (the milk) | Ik drink graag veel melk. (I like to drink a lot of milk.) |
| De schoen (the shoe) | Hij heeft zes paar schoenen. (He has six pairs of shoes.) | Het geld (the money) | Wij verdienen veel geld. (We make a lot of money.) |
| De bloem (the flower) | Jullie krijgen bloemen van haar. (You get flowers from her.) | De muziek (the music) | Zij luisteren de hele dag muziek. (The listen to music the enitre day.) |
Take a look at the different chapters about the gender of Dutch nouns, the plural, and the Dutch diminutives.
Have a look at the subchapters to learn more about the Dutch nouns.