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Learn Hardcore Dutch: Het project is interessant. - The project is interesting.

Hardcore Dutch
/Lesson 9
/Het project is interessant.

Het project is interessant.

Het project is interessant.

The project is interesting.

Breakdown of Het project is interessant.

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Questions & Answers about Het project is interessant.

Why is it het project and not de project?

In Dutch, every singular noun has one of two definite articles: de or het.
Project is a het-word, so you say het project.

A few useful things to remember:

de is used for most common-gender nouns
het is used for neuter nouns
all plural nouns take de, so the projects would be de projecten

Unfortunately, whether a noun takes de or het often has to be memorized.

Is het here the article the, or does it mean it?

Here, het is the definite article, so it means the.

In Dutch, het can also mean it in other sentences, but not here. In Het project is interessant, it belongs directly to project and forms the noun phrase het project = the project.

Why is the word order Het project is interessant?

This is a normal Dutch main clause, and the structure is very similar to English:

Het project = subject
is = verb
interessant = adjective/complement

So the pattern is:

subject + verb + complement

That is why the sentence looks quite close to English The project is interesting.

Why is it is and not zijn?

Because het project is singular.

The verb zijn means to be, and is is the singular form used with he/she/it and singular nouns in the present tense.

So:

het project is = the project is
de projecten zijn = the projects are

Why does interessant not have an -e ending?

Because it is used after the verb is. In that position, Dutch adjectives usually do not take an ending.

So:

Het project is interessant.
Here interessant is a predicative adjective, so there is no -e.

But when the adjective comes before the noun, it usually does take -e:

het interessante project = the interesting project

This is a very common Dutch pattern:

De film is goed.
de goede film

Can I also say het interessante project?

Yes, but that is a different structure.

Het project is interessant. = The project is interesting.
het interessante project = the interesting project

So:

after is, the adjective usually has no ending
before the noun, the adjective usually gets -e

Is project pronounced like the English word?

It is similar, but not identical.

Dutch project is commonly pronounced roughly like pro-YEKT, with the stress on the second syllable.
English speakers often want to pronounce it more like English PRO-ject or pruh-JECT, depending on whether it is the noun or verb, but Dutch has its own sound pattern.

The spelling is familiar, but the pronunciation is more Dutch than English.

Can I say Het project is heel interessant?

Yes, absolutely.

Heel means very, so:

Het project is interessant. = The project is interesting.
Het project is heel interessant. = The project is very interesting.

This is a very natural expansion of the sentence.

Do I always need the article het here?

Yes, if you mean the project.

In Dutch, singular countable nouns normally need an article or another determiner. So you say:

het project = the project
een project = a project

You would not normally say just project is interessant.

What would the indefinite version be?

It would be:

Een project is interessant.

That means A project is interesting or One project is interesting, depending on context.

So the contrast is:

het project = the project
een project = a project

What is the plural version of this sentence?

The plural would be:

De projecten zijn interessant.

Changes:

het project → de projecten
is → zijn
interessant stays the same

So:

singular: Het project is interessant.
plural: De projecten zijn interessant.

Is interessant a Dutch word or a borrowed word?

It is a normal Dutch word, but like many Dutch words, it is related to words found in other European languages. That is why it looks familiar to English speakers.

Even when a Dutch word looks like an English word, it is still important to learn its Dutch pronunciation, grammar, and word order. Here, for example, the form interessant works just like a regular Dutch adjective.

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