Het konijn is klein.

Because konijn is a het-word in Dutch, meaning it takes the definite article het rather than de.

Dutch singular nouns take either:

• de for common gender nouns
• het for neuter nouns

So:

• het konijn = the rabbit

Unfortunately, you often have to learn whether a noun is a de-word or a het-word along with the noun itself.

In this sentence, het is the definite article, meaning the.

So the structure is:

• het = the
• konijn = rabbit

Be careful: het can also mean it in other sentences, but here it is just the article before the noun.

Yes, this sentence uses the same basic order as English:

• Het konijn = subject
• is = verb
• klein = adjective/complement

So it follows: Subject + verb + adjective

This is very similar to:

• The rabbit is small.

Dutch word order can become more different from English in longer or more complex sentences, but this simple sentence is very straightforward.

Because klein comes after the verb is and describes the subject. In this position, Dutch adjectives are usually not inflected.

This is called the predicative position:

• Het konijn is klein. = The rabbit is small.

Compare that with an adjective placed before a noun, where Dutch often adds -e:

• het kleine konijn = the small rabbit

So:

• before the noun: often kleine
• after the verb: usually klein

Is is the third-person singular present tense of the verb zijn, which means to be.

So:

• ik ben = I am
• jij bent = you are
• hij/zij/het is = he/she/it is

In Het konijn is klein, is means is exactly as in English.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• ko sounds somewhat like kuh or ko depending on accent
• nijn contains the Dutch ij, which sounds somewhat like the vowel in some pronunciations of English my or eye, though not exactly

A rough English-style approximation would be:

• kuh-NINE

But that is only approximate. The biggest challenge is the ij sound, which is very Dutch and not exactly the same as English eye.

A rough approximation is:

• klayn

Again, the ij is the key sound. It is similar to the sound learners often hear in mijn or zijn, but it is not identical to any single English vowel.

So:

• klein ≈ klayn
• meaning: small

In modern spelling, ij is written as two letters: i + j. But in Dutch, it often behaves like a single unit in pronunciation and in learners’ minds.

That is why many textbooks and teachers treat ij as a special combination you should learn as one sound pattern.

You see it in both words here:

• konijn
• klein

It is singular: the rabbit.

The plural is:

• de konijnen = the rabbits

Notice two changes:

• the article becomes de in the plural
• the noun changes from konijn to konijnen

So:

• het konijn is klein = the rabbit is small
• de konijnen zijn klein = the rabbits are small

Because in Dutch, all plural nouns take de, even if the singular noun is a het-word.

So:

• singular: het konijn
• plural: de konijnen

This is a very important pattern:

• singular noun may be de or het
• plural noun is always de

Yes, often it can.

Depending on context, klein can correspond to:

• small
• little

For this sentence, small is usually the most natural translation:

• Het konijn is klein. = The rabbit is small.

If you wanted to say little rabbit before the noun, you could say:

• het kleine konijn

Yes. Konijntje is the diminutive form, meaning something like:

• little rabbit
• bunny

So:

• het konijn = the rabbit
• het konijntje = the little rabbit / bunny

Dutch uses diminutives very often. Also, all diminutives take het, so het konijntje is expected.

It is best to memorize the noun together with its article:

• het konijn, not just konijn

That helps you remember:

• the noun’s gender/category
• which article to use
• how adjectives and pronouns may behave later

This is a very good habit in Dutch, especially because whether a noun takes de or het is not always predictable.