Using articles: where Dutch and English differ

Dutch and English use articles the same way most of the time, so you can usually translate word for word. But there is a handful of recurring mismatches. Sometimes Dutch leaves out an article that English keeps (Ik ben leraar = I am a teacher); sometimes Dutch keeps one that English drops (in de zomer = in summer).

A small set of everyday situations trips up the word-for-word approach: in some the Dutch article vanishes, in others it stays put even though English leaves it out. Work through the cases below — each one says which way it goes — and treat anything outside them as a fixed phrase to memorise.

• Jobs and roles after zijn (to be) or worden (to become): Dutch uses no article where English needs a/an. Mijn zus is advocaat. (My sister is a lawyer.) Hij wordt directeur. (He is becoming a director.) More on this at een and dropping the article.
• Playing an instrument after spelen (to play): the instrument stands bare, though English says the. Zij speelt viool. (She plays the violin.) Hij speelt trompet. (He plays the trumpet.)
• Seasons: here the article turns up in Dutch but not in English. in de zomer (in summer), in de winter (in winter), in de lente (in spring).
• Naming a language: Dutch adds het, but only after a preposition — most often in. De handleiding is in het Duits. (The manual is in German.) Praat met de patiënt in het Engels. (Talk to the patient in English.) Take the preposition away and the article goes with it: Mijn buurman leert Nederlands. (My neighbour is learning Dutch.)
• A broad statement about something in general: Dutch keeps the article, English usually drops it. Het leven is mooi. (Life is beautiful.) De natuur is kwetsbaar. (Nature is fragile.)

Many everyday phrases lock the article in a way that does not match English. Where a phrase does keep an article, its gender decides de or het; the only real difference from English is whether an article appears at all — some phrases keep one where English drops it, and a few drop one where English keeps it.

The little 's in 's ochtends and 's avonds is a frozen leftover of an old article (des), which is why it always carries an apostrophe. It is a fixed form — do not add another article.

The most common English-speaker error is inserting a/an with a profession: Ik ben een leraar should be Ik ben leraar. The mirror mistake is dropping the article in a season: in zomer should be in de zomer. When a phrase feels fixed, learn it whole rather than translating the article from English.