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Questions & Answers about Het varken slaapt op de boerderij.
I see this lesson is about irregular plurals. Does varken get an -eren plural like some other farm animals?
No, varken is much simpler! Because it already ends in the unstressed syllable -en, its plural is made by simply adding an -s: varkens (pigs).
Why do we use het for varken?
In Dutch, varken is a neuter word, so it gets het for 'the'. But remember, whenever you make a noun plural, the 'the' word always changes to de. So 'the pigs' becomes de varkens.
Why is it op de boerderij and not in de boerderij?
Just like in English where you say someone lives 'on a farm', Dutch uses the preposition op (on) with boerderij. You would only use in if you were specifically talking about being trapped inside the physical farmhouse building.
Does boerderij have an irregular plural too?
No, it follows the standard rule for words ending in -ij. You just add -en to make it plural: boerderijen (farms).