Learn Dutch: Het kind eet vier appels, niet vijf. - The child eats four apples, not five.

Het kind eet vier appels, niet vijf.

The child eats four apples, not five.

Breakdown of Het kind eet vier appels, niet vijf.

Questions & Answers about Het kind eet vier appels, niet vijf.

Why do we use niet here instead of geen?

Geen is used to mean "not any" or "zero" when negating a noun. But here, we are not saying the child eats zero apples. We are specifically negating the number vijf (five) to contrast it with vier (four). When negating a specific number like this, you use niet.

Do numbers like vier and vijf change if the noun is a "het" word or a "de" word?

No, cardinal numbers (counting numbers) like vier (four) and vijf (five) never change their spelling or endings. They stay exactly the same no matter what noun follows them.

Why is the plural of appel written as appels instead of getting an "-en" ending?

While many Dutch plurals end in -en, nouns that end in an unstressed syllable like -el, -em, -en, or -er usually just get an -s. Because appel ends in -el, its plural is appels.

Why is it het kind instead of de kind?

Dutch has two words for "the": de and het. You have to memorize which one a noun takes. Kind (child) is a neuter noun, so it always takes het.