Every Dutch noun takes de or het for "the," and you mostly have to learn which one with each word. It's de tafel and het boek. Dutch also moves the verb around: in "Ik blijf thuis, omdat het regent," the verb regent goes to the very end after omdat.
Ask for de or het with each new noun, and you'll learn the article along with the word.
I'm learning Dutch as it's spoken in the Netherlands. I can read short sentences in the present tense. Write 6 to 8 sentences in Dutch about cycling to work in the rain. Use these words: fiets, regen, kantoor. Below the text, list each new noun with de or het in front of it and its plural, then its meaning in English.
The verb usually sits in second place, so a sentence that starts with gisteren (yesterday) puts the verb right after it: Gisteren fietste ik naar huis. Paste a sentence and ask why each verb is where it is.
Here's a Dutch sentence: "Ik weet niet of hij morgen komt." Point to each verb and tell me why it sits where it does. Then rewrite the sentence starting with a different word, like daarom or eigenlijk, and show me how the order changes. Keep it short and in plain English.
A borrel is a casual drink with coworkers or friends. To plan one, you agree on a day and a time.
Let's role-play in Dutch. You're my coworker at an office in Utrecht, and you want to plan a borrel with the team. Ask me which day works and where we should go. Call me je, keep each line short, and wait for my reply. After eight turns, show me any sentence where I put the verb in the wrong place.
Many Dutch spelling slips come down to d or dt: ik word, jij wordt, and hij wordt. Ask ChatGPT to look for them along with your word order.
Check this Dutch I wrote: "Paste what you wrote here" Fix the word order, de and het, and verb endings, especially d and dt. Give my text back with each fix in bold, then explain each one in a short English sentence. Leave out the sentences I got right.
The quiz prompt works on any Dutch article you paste in.
A wrong de or het is easy to miss, and OpenAI warns that ChatGPT can give incorrect definitions.
- Search the WoordenlijstWoordenlijst.org shows each noun with de or het and its plural, and each verb with all its forms. It's free and needs no account.
- Check the Little WordsWords ending in -je, like katje and huisje, take het. If ChatGPT writes de katje, look the word up.
- Check Heeft or IsSome verbs use heeft to talk about the past, some use is, and some can take either. The Woordenlijst shows it, like heeft/is gefietst.
- Quiz De and Het in Study ModeTurn on study mode, paste in a list of nouns, and ask ChatGPT to quiz you on de or het one word at a time. OpenAI says study mode can check your understanding as you go.
Bubblegum is a language app with Dutch lessons from Poppy, your AI tutor. She writes each one at your level, so you can skip writing prompts.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Dutch. You learn from Dutch you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Poppy writes Dutch lessons about what you care about, from football to cooking.
- Save any word with one tap while you read.
- Ask Poppy about any line, right in the lesson.
- Practice planning a weekend out loud with Poppy in live voice chat.
- Export your saved words to Anki, or let Regenerative Review™ bring them back in new lessons.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Bubblegum has no Frisian journey. Frisian is an official language alongside Dutch in the province of Friesland.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Is There a Rule for De and Het?
There are a few. Every plural takes de, so it's het huis and de huizen. Words ending in -ment or -um usually take het, like het instrument and het museum. For most other nouns, learn de or het with the word.
Should I Learn the Dutch of the Netherlands or Belgium?
Pick the one where you'll use it. Both countries use the same standard Dutch and spell words the same way. Some words and sounds differ, and the Dutch of Belgium is often called Flemish. Name your country in the reading prompt above, so ChatGPT knows which one you mean.
Which App Should a Dutch Beginner Choose?
Is Bubblegum Free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center, Does ChatGPT tell the truth? (checked 2026-10-24)
- OpenAI Help Center, Using study mode in ChatGPT (checked 2026-10-24)
- Nederlandse Taalunie, Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal: entries for katje, huis, fiets and worden (checked 2026-10-24)
- Onze Taal, de / het: algemene regels: diminutives, -ment and -um take het; every plural takes de (checked 2026-10-24)
- Wikipedia, Dutch grammar: verb second in main clauses, verb last in subordinate clauses (checked 2026-10-24)
- Wiktionary, borrel: an informal get-together with drinks (checked 2026-10-24)
- Wikipedia, Flemish: Dutch as written and spoken in Flanders (checked 2026-10-24)
- Wikipedia, Dutch Language Union: the Netherlands and Belgium share one official spelling and word list (checked 2026-10-24)
- Wikipedia, West Frisian language: official alongside Dutch in Friesland since 1956 (checked 2026-10-24)
- Bubblegum
Checked on October 5, 2026 against each app's own pages.
