Welk or Welke? Which in Dutch — Plus elk and ieder — A2 Dutch Grammar Course, Lesson 23 | My Dutch Journal

Welk or Welke? Which in Dutch — Plus elk and ieder | A2 Dutch, Lesson 23

July 4, 2026

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Welcome to lesson twenty-three of the A2 Dutch Grammar Course. In this lesson you will learn how to use welk and welke — the Dutch words for which — and two related words: elk and ieder, which both mean every or each. All three follow exactly the same rule: one form before het-words, a different form before de-words. By the end of this lesson you will know which form to use in every situation.

Welk of welke? — de hoofdregel

Welk and welke are question words meaning which. The form you use depends on whether the noun is a het-word or a de-word. Before a het-word, you use welk — without an -e. Welk boek lees jij? — Which book are you reading. Welk huis wil je kopen? — Which house do you want to buy. Before a de-word, you use welke — with an -e. Welke auto heeft hij? — Which car does he have. Welke jas wil je? — Which jacket do you want. Welke taal spreek jij? — Which language do you speak. The rule is simple: welk for het-words, welke for de-words.

welk → voor het-woorden	welke → voor de-woorden
het boek	Welk boek lees jij?	de auto	Welke auto heeft hij?
het huis	Welk huis wil je kopen?	de jas	Welke jas wil je?
het kind	Welk kind is dat?	de taal	Welke taal spreek jij?

Welk in vragen — ook na een voorzetsel

Welk and welke also appear after a preposition in a question. The rule stays the same: welk if the noun is a het-word, welke if it is a de-word. Uit welk land kom je? — Which country do you come from. Here land is het land, so welk. In welk dorp woon je? — Which village do you live in. Dorp is het dorp, so welk again. Welke trein gaat naar Den Haag? — Which train goes to The Hague. Trein is de trein, so welke. Welke taal leer jij? — Which language are you learning. Taal is de taal, so welke. The noun determines the form — always check the article.

Welke — altijd voor meervoud

There is one more rule to learn: before a plural noun, you always use welke — regardless of what the singular article is. Welke boeken lees jij? — Which books are you reading. Boek is het boek in the singular, but in the plural it becomes de boeken, so welke. Welke huizen staan er te koop? — Which houses are for sale. Again, het huis becomes de huizen in the plural, so welke. In Dutch, all plural nouns are de-words — and welke always goes with de. So the rule for plurals is simple: always welke.

Enkelvoud	Meervoud	Vraag
het boek	de boeken	Welke boeken lees jij?
het huis	de huizen	Welke huizen staan er te koop?
de auto	de auto's	Welke auto's vind jij mooi?
de schoen	de schoenen	Welke schoenen wil je?

Elk en ieder — every, each — dezelfde regel

Two more words follow the same rule: elk and ieder, both meaning every or each. Before a het-word, you use elk or ieder — without an -e. Elk kind krijgt een beurt. — Every child gets a turn. Ieder kind krijgt een beurt. — Same meaning, same form. Before a de-word, you use elke or iedere — with an -e. Elke dag gaat ze hardlopen. — Every day she goes running. Iedere dag gaat ze hardlopen. — Same sentence, same meaning, different word. Elk and ieder usually have the same meaning — choose whichever feels natural. The pattern is identical to welk and welke: het-word gets no -e, de-word gets -e.

	het-woord	de-woord
welk of welke (which)	welk huis	welke auto
elk of elke (every)	elk huis	elke auto
ieder of iedere (every)	ieder huis	iedere auto

Overzicht — welk, elk, ieder

Let us look at all three side by side. For which: welk before a het-word, welke before a de-word and before all plurals. For every with elk: elk before a het-word, elke before a de-word. For every with ieder: ieder before a het-word, iedere before a de-word. The pattern is the same in every case: no -e for het-words, -e for de-words. This is exactly the same logic as ons and onze, which you learned in lesson twenty-one. Het-word: no -e. De-word: -e. Knowing this one rule gives you welk, elk, and ieder all at once.

	het-woord (enkelvoud)	de-woord (enkelvoud)	Meervoud
welk of welke (which)	welk boek	welke auto	welke boeken
elk of elke (every)	elk kind	elke dag	—
ieder of iedere (every)	ieder huis	iedere maand	—

Wat heb je geleerd?

Let's review. Welk is used before het-words in the singular — welk huis, welk kind. Welke is used before de-words — welke auto, welke dag — and before all plural nouns — welke boeken, welke huizen. Elk and ieder both mean every or each and follow the same rule. No -e before het-words: elk kind, ieder huis. With -e before de-words: elke dag, iedere maand. Elk and ieder usually mean the same thing and are interchangeable in most A2 contexts. Note that elk and ieder are used with singular nouns only — welke is the word that covers plurals, for which. The underlying rule is the same for all three: het-word gets no -e, de-word gets -e, and all plurals always take welke.

Practice What You Learned

Reading about grammar is step one — using it is what makes it stick. In My Dutch Journal Academy you can watch the full video of this lesson, do interactive exercises that check your answers instantly, and practise all the vocabulary from the A2 course.