Het words

[Trellum]

I made a post covering the rules for ''De words'', I promised I'd create a post covering the Het ones, even tho they are not as used as DE, but it still is super important to know the rules. 

When you try to remember what article to use, if Het or De, try to remember this list,  and ask yourself: ''when  is ok to use HET?

1- Diminutives: -je, -tje, -etje, -pje or -mpje.

2-Infinitives as nouns - the gerund, ie: Het lopen van de hond.

3-Words ending in -um, -aat or -isme. Excepting nouns that refer to people, ie: De advocaat.

4-Words consisting of two syllables and starting with be-, ge-, ver- and ont-.

5- Languages, names of metals, words ending with -isme, -ment and words derived from verbs.

6 - Most nouns beginning with ge-, be- an ver-.

7- Compass points, ie: Het noorden (the north).

8- Gerund: Het zwemmen (Swimming).

9- Names of sports and games.

[Daedalus]

Thanks for this list. As a native speaker, I just know when to use de or het, and it's hard to explain why. This helps people learning Dutch a lot.

[Trellum]

Thank you, hehehe!  I'm glad you think this is a good list, it means a lot coming from a native Dutch speaker   As contrast, for us Spanish speakers it's so easy to know when to use 'el'' or ''la'', and is kinda difficult to explain how or why to people learning Spanish, so I know what you mean