De or het neef?
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
What de changes
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| this, these | deze neef | deze neven |
| that, those | die neef | die neven |
| which (the … that) | de neef die … | de neven die … |
| our | onze neef | onze neven |
Meaning in English
- male cousin
- nephew
Remember neef 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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