Breien in het Nederlands: Les 2
Breien in het Nederlands: Zelfstandige naamwoorden, deel 1—geslacht
Knitting in Dutch: Nouns, part 1—gender
In Dutch, all nouns belong to one of two genders: common (more commonly called de-woorden ‘de-words’) or neuter (more commonly called het-woorden ‘het-words’). For the most part, you just have to memorize which nouns are common and which are neuter. It might be helpful to know that there are many more common gender nouns than neuter gender. This is the case because originally, there were three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Due to various sound changes and the loss of cases, the masculine and feminine nouns fell together into one group, namely the common gender. This means that roughly 2/3 of all Dutch nouns are common gender. Note, however, that most Dutch dictionaries still label nouns as masculine, feminine or neuter. The Dutch themselves, though, do not generally know whether a de-word is masculine or feminine, and this does not have any further influence on the grammar.
Why do I need to know the gender of nouns?
The gender of a noun often determines the form of the little words that come before the noun. These include articles ('a/an', 'the'), demonstratives ('this/these', 'that/those'), possessive pronouns ('my', 'your', 'our', etc.) among other little words. The gender also influences the form of the adjective describing a noun, but this will be described later. If you use the wrong gender, the Dutch will still understand you—they will find it strange, however, and it will definitely mark you as a non-native speaker. But it does not, however, impede communication.
Articles and other little words that come before nouns
The indefinite article is een ‘a/an’. Unlike English, the form never changes, no matter what follows. This is not influenced by gender.
The definite articles are de ‘the’ for common gender words and het ‘the’ for singular neuter words. When we look back at the list of knitting nouns at the beginning of this lesson, we see many de-words and only a few het-words.
de steek ‘the stitch’ versus het garen ‘the yarn’
The de versus het distinction is only relevant in the singular. When we make nouns plural, the definite article is de ‘the’ no matter what the original gender is.
de steken ‘the stitches’ versus de garens ‘the yarns’
This does not mean that garen has become a de-word; it has just become plural. This is like the distinction in English between 'this' and 'these' or 'that' and 'those'. It may help you to think of plural as a separate class since plural nouns are always treated the same way.
The demonstratives work the same way as the definite article: dit ‘this’ and dat ‘that’ for singular het-words and deze ‘this, these’ and die ‘that, those’ for singular de-words and all plurals.
deze/die steek ‘this/that stitch’ versus dit/dat garen ‘this/that yarn’
deze/die steken ‘these/those stitches’ versus deze/die garens ‘these/those yarns’
The possessives are generally invariable, i.e., they do not change their form. The possessives are mijn ‘my’, jouw ‘your’, zijn ‘his, its’, haar ‘her’, uw ‘your (formal)’, jullie ‘y’all’s’, and hun ‘their’. The one exception is the word for ‘our’: ons for singular het-words and onze for de-words and plurals.
onze naald ‘our needle’ versus ons garen ‘our yarn’
onze naalden ‘our needles’ versus onze garens ‘our yarns’
And that was a brief description of grammatical gender in Dutch! Be on the look-out for the next lesson: singular versus plural!
Knitting in Dutch: Nouns, part 1—gender
In Dutch, all nouns belong to one of two genders: common (more commonly called de-woorden ‘de-words’) or neuter (more commonly called het-woorden ‘het-words’). For the most part, you just have to memorize which nouns are common and which are neuter. It might be helpful to know that there are many more common gender nouns than neuter gender. This is the case because originally, there were three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Due to various sound changes and the loss of cases, the masculine and feminine nouns fell together into one group, namely the common gender. This means that roughly 2/3 of all Dutch nouns are common gender. Note, however, that most Dutch dictionaries still label nouns as masculine, feminine or neuter. The Dutch themselves, though, do not generally know whether a de-word is masculine or feminine, and this does not have any further influence on the grammar.
Why do I need to know the gender of nouns?
The gender of a noun often determines the form of the little words that come before the noun. These include articles ('a/an', 'the'), demonstratives ('this/these', 'that/those'), possessive pronouns ('my', 'your', 'our', etc.) among other little words. The gender also influences the form of the adjective describing a noun, but this will be described later. If you use the wrong gender, the Dutch will still understand you—they will find it strange, however, and it will definitely mark you as a non-native speaker. But it does not, however, impede communication.
Articles and other little words that come before nouns
The indefinite article is een ‘a/an’. Unlike English, the form never changes, no matter what follows. This is not influenced by gender.
The definite articles are de ‘the’ for common gender words and het ‘the’ for singular neuter words. When we look back at the list of knitting nouns at the beginning of this lesson, we see many de-words and only a few het-words.
de steek ‘the stitch’ versus het garen ‘the yarn’
The de versus het distinction is only relevant in the singular. When we make nouns plural, the definite article is de ‘the’ no matter what the original gender is.
de steken ‘the stitches’ versus de garens ‘the yarns’
This does not mean that garen has become a de-word; it has just become plural. This is like the distinction in English between 'this' and 'these' or 'that' and 'those'. It may help you to think of plural as a separate class since plural nouns are always treated the same way.
The demonstratives work the same way as the definite article: dit ‘this’ and dat ‘that’ for singular het-words and deze ‘this, these’ and die ‘that, those’ for singular de-words and all plurals.
deze/die steek ‘this/that stitch’ versus dit/dat garen ‘this/that yarn’
deze/die steken ‘these/those stitches’ versus deze/die garens ‘these/those yarns’
The possessives are generally invariable, i.e., they do not change their form. The possessives are mijn ‘my’, jouw ‘your’, zijn ‘his, its’, haar ‘her’, uw ‘your (formal)’, jullie ‘y’all’s’, and hun ‘their’. The one exception is the word for ‘our’: ons for singular het-words and onze for de-words and plurals.
onze naald ‘our needle’ versus ons garen ‘our yarn’
onze naalden ‘our needles’ versus onze garens ‘our yarns’
And that was a brief description of grammatical gender in Dutch! Be on the look-out for the next lesson: singular versus plural!
posted by gearncniht at 2:14 PM
1 Comments:
your blog is really interesting. i was just wondering where you got those little things on the sidebar that show how much of your projects are finished. they are so cute!
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