Re: "De and Het"

Woman Wandering wrote:

Monday, January 23, 2006

De And Het

Did you know ... 'de' and 'het' both mean 'the' in Nederlands.

And you can't just use them as you please, you have to know which one to put before nouns when constructing sentences ... so what rule do you apply?

THERE IS NO RULE!!!

You have to memorise the noun and its accompanying article.
Every noun...

We were so despondent in class today.

You know, I had the same complaints. But when I told this to my Flemish colleagues, they simply responded: "Haha ... wait until you try to learn FRENCH!" (Now that I have begun to try to learn French, however, I know what they're talking about the exception to the exception to the exception to the rule ...)

To the Flemings, everything is "natural". They say, ... all you have to do is "feel". Just *feel* it, and you'll do just fine. It will all come natural!

Yeah right.

Cup'oCofi, always analytical and can't settle for the "touchy-feely" ways ... of course, could not resist the temptation to rationalize everything. He replied:

Not exactly rules but see this from http://www.ielanguages.com/dutch1.html#nouns

"All nouns have a gender in Dutch, either common (de words) or neuter (het words). It is hard to guess which gender a noun is, so it is best to memorize the genders when memorizing vocabulary. However, two-thirds of Dutch words are common gender (because the common gender has combined the former feminine and masculine genders.) So it may be easier to memorize which nouns are neuter, and then assign common gender to the rest. All diminutives (words ending in -je) and infinitives used as nouns, as well as colors, metals, compass directions, and all words that end in -um, -aat, -sel, -isme are neuter. Most nouns beginning with ge- and ending with -te are neuter, as are most nouns beginning with ge-, be-, and ver-. Common noun endings include: -aar, -ent, -er, -es, -eur, -heid, -ij, -ing, -teit, -tie."

People are impressed enough when you guess 80% or so correctly ... and I mean ... the Belgians don't use "many" and "much" correctly 50% of the time ... so it's not that bad.

Signed,

--The sun-deprived guy who have to study Dutch between work, travel, beers, more beers, and even more beers ...

Yeah. Dutch 0. Cup'oCofi 1.

In Belgian Beers and French Wines ... Ieper: First Month

Ieper, July 26th, 2005

Dear Friends:

By the way, Ieper (Ypres) is with an "i", not an "L". And those are not all cathedrals. The big buildings are the cloth halls that are used for trading clothes in the middle ages; now they are being used as stadhuis--townhalls. Though you are right; they have found other uses for the Cathedrals. Have you heard the expression: it's so obsolete it must have been "a" museum? Now you have. It's ironic I know. Just wait until they turn the Cathedrals into a Science Museum.

Ieper (Ypres) Town Center
from the Rijselstraat (Lille Street / Rue de Lille)

I was supposed to have a walk in closet--have to admit these things are a luxury around Ieper--but the apartment that I wanted was snapped out before HR could make a decision on my living arrangements. I am not too happy with my apartment now, but anyway it's fairly cheap. No, they do not have satellite dishes here. Why would you want the ugly dishes on top of these "cute little dollhouses" (as a friend called them) anyway?

(This is Brugge / Bruges, by the way)

I love it here, though I have to admit that I am homesick already. Missed my big-ass fridge, Costco, 24 hr neigborhood Kroger's, AC, SUV, cheap Chinese, American (sized) steaks, golf course lot, Best Buy, cheap(er) gas, free reward credit cards, and all other American (hedonistic) "cultures" (but NEVER mention the phrase "American Culture" in front of a European unless you're mentally ready for some verbal abuses). Shoot; but I won't complain about the cheap reliable train (did I mention 1 hour train ride to Paris?), friendly and sociable people, downtown living and free concerts, Belgian beer, French wine, mild weather ... who needs AC? Come to think about it, at least I will never have to wear sweater in my office in the middle of the summer anymore.

Ieperse Lakenhallen - Ieper's Cloth Hall

And I missed y'all. Hope you will come visit soon, since I've planned so much travel I won't get to set a foot in the "States" within the next three years!


Love,

Cup'oCofi

It was almost three years ago ...

... that I opened my eyes and looked out of my American Airlines Boeing 777, waking up to a new day. Outside, was a landscape I'd only seen in pictures.: the beautiful Flanders countryside, almost like a carefully manicured garden ... growing in radial patterns out of cities that--as I later learned--serve as the cores for almost all of these Europeans' activities.

As the plane landed and the flight attendant announced our arrival--of course--meticulously in four languages, I told myself, "Welcome to Europe!"

Cup'oCofi?

"525,600 minutes, 525,600 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - How do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee? In inches, in miles, in laughters, in strife? In 525,600 minutes -- How do you measure a year in the life?"

I adopted the nickname Cup'oCofi from a phrase in the theme song "Seasons of Love" from the popular musical "The Rent" which I saw back in 1999. I guess I like the phrase because it keeps reminding me to ask "how have you been measuring a year in your life?" As Mel Gibson's William Wallace puts it: "Every man dies. But not every man really lives."

So I started this Blog to log all the ways to measure a year in my life. I hope it can be a source of inspirations and motivations for me, and for all who care enough to read my postings.

(This is a splinter blog out of my main site http://cupocofi.blogspot.com ... mostly to highlight more of my personal side and my little "aventures" in Belgium.)