De or het brief?
de brief
letter (written message)
/brif/
Forms
- Singular
- de brief
- Plural
- de brieven
- Diminutive
- het briefje
Why de?
- No reliable spelling rule decides this one, so de brief is learned together with the word.
- Every plural takes de, so it is de brieven whatever the singular takes.
- Every diminutive takes het: het briefje.
The rules for de and het, with the exceptions
What de changes
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| this, these | deze brief | deze brieven |
| that, those | die brief | die brieven |
| which (the … that) | de brief die … | de brieven die … |
| our | onze brief | onze brieven |
Meaning in English
- letter (written message)
Remember brief 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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