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Questions & Answers about De paarden drinken water.
I learned that "horse" is het paard. Why does this sentence use de?
You are perfectly right that the singular is het paard. However, in Dutch, all plural nouns take the definite article de, even if they are het words in the singular. So het paard becomes de paarden.
How is the plural of paard formed?
To make most Dutch nouns plural, you simply add -en to the end of the word. For paard, we just add -en to get paarden. The double vowel aa stays exactly the same because it is followed by two consonants (r and d).
Why is the verb drinken instead of drinkt?
Because the subject de paarden is plural, the verb must also be plural. In Dutch, the plural form of a verb is almost always the same as the full dictionary form (the infinitive), which ends in -en.
Why is there no article before water?
Just like in English, you do not need an article before an uncountable noun like water when talking about it in a general sense.