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Questions & Answers about Het plan is geheim.
Why is it het plan and not de plan?
Plan is a neuter noun in Dutch, so it takes the definite article het. There is no strict rule for why it is a het-word instead of a de-word, so it is best to memorize het plan as a set pair when you learn the noun.
Why doesn't the adjective geheim have an -e at the end here?
In Dutch, adjectives do not get an -e ending when they stand alone after a verb like is. You only add an -e when the adjective comes directly before the noun it describes, like in het geheime plan (the secret plan).
Wait, is geheim an adjective or a noun here?
In this specific sentence, geheim is an adjective meaning secret. However, it can also act as a noun! You can use het geheim to mean the secret, as in Dat is een geheim (That is a secret).
How would I say 'The plan is something secret' using the indefinite pronoun iets?
You would say Het plan is iets geheims. When you use an indefinite pronoun from this lesson like iets (something) or niets (nothing) followed by an adjective, you must add an -s to the end of that adjective.