No Article in Dutch: zonder, met, als and per — B1 Dutch Grammar Course, Lesson 21 | My Dutch Journal

No Article in Dutch: zonder, met, als and per | B1 Dutch, Lesson 21

July 4, 2026

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Welcome to B1 Lesson twenty-one. In this lesson, you learn about situations where Dutch omits the article before a noun. You already know several of these situations from an earlier level. In this lesson, you learn five new ones. "Hij zit zonder boek in de les. He is sitting in class without a book — no article after zonder. De collega's kwamen met partner naar het feest. The colleagues came to the party with their partner — no article after met. Wij werken als vrijwilliger. We work as volunteers — no article after als. Hij reisde per trein. He travelled by train — no article after per. By the end of this lesson, you will know all five new contexts and the key contrast that determines when met takes no article and when it takes een."

What you already know — a recap

Before the new material, a quick recap of what you already know. Dutch omits the article in six situations you have seen before. Indefinite plural nouns — "Ik zie vogels. Indefinite uncountable nouns — Ik wil koffie. Professions with zijn — Ik ben docent. Nationalities with zijn — Ik ben Nederlander. Cities and countries — Ik woon in Amsterdam. And the numbers honderd and duizend — Ik heb honderd euro. All of these you know. In this lesson, you add five new situations: after the word zonder, after the word met in certain contexts, after als meaning as, after per," and in fixed common pairs. Let us look at each one.

zonder — without

The first new situation: "zonder. Without. In the common pattern — when zonder means without X in a general sense — Dutch does not use an article. Hij zit zonder boek in de les. He is sitting in class without a book. In English you say without a book — with the indefinite article. In Dutch, zonder boek has no article. De kinderen speelden zonder jas buiten. The children played outside without a coat — no article. We kunnen niet meer zonder internet. We can no longer live without the internet — no article, even though in English the internet has a definite article. This is the pattern you will use at B1 level: in the basic without X construction, zonder" is followed directly by the noun.

met — the two no-article cases

"Met is the most nuanced of the five new situations. There are two cases where met takes no article, and one important exception. Case one: met as the opposite of zonder. When met stresses that something or someone IS present — as opposed to not being there — no article. De collega's kwamen met partner naar het bedrijfsfeest. They came with their partner — as opposed to coming alone. No article. Note that met partner is most natural in invitation or registration contexts — the kind of situation where you indicate coming with partner, plus one. For a specific individual, Dutch would use mijn partner or een partner. Case two: met for a technical feature or selling point. When you describe a feature that something has, no article. Hij heeft een auto met alarm. A car with an alarm — the alarm is a property of the car. Een televisie met afstandsbediening. A television with a remote control. Een cursus met accommodatie. A course with accommodation. But here is the important exception: when met introduces a specific individual person, you do use een. Hij vergaderde met een collega. He had a meeting with a colleague — a real individual person. The question to ask: is this a status, category, or feature — or is it a specific individual? Status or feature: no article. Specific person: een".

als = as · per = per, by

Two more consistent rules: "als and per. After als meaning as or in the role of, no article. Hij gebruikt zijn tablet ook als e-reader. He uses his tablet as an e-reader — no article. Als vader heeft hij veel verantwoordelijkheden. As a father, he has many responsibilities — in English a father has an article, but in Dutch als vader has none. Wij werken als vrijwilliger. We work as volunteers — no article. Notice that even with a plural subject like wij, the role noun stays singular — als vrijwilliger, not als vrijwilligers. The noun names a function, not a count. After per, meaning per or by, the rule is equally consistent: no article. Per trein — by train. Per persoon per nacht — per person per night. Per les — per lesson. Whether it describes a mode of transport, a rate, or a distribution, per" is followed directly by the noun with no article.

Common pairs — things that belong together

The final situation is common pairs — things that always belong together. These are culturally fixed combinations, and neither noun in the pair takes an article. "Wij eten met mes en vork. We eat with knife and fork. In English, you say with a knife and fork — in Dutch, no article before either noun. Heb je pen en papier bij je? Do you have pen and paper with you? Mijn oma maakt mooie jurken met naald en draad. My grandmother makes beautiful dresses with needle and thread. Zij zijn vanaf nu man en vrouw. They are from now on husband and wife. You cannot construct new pairs by rule — you need to recognise the fixed pairs that are established in Dutch. Beyond the four core pairs from this lesson, you can also recognise dag en nacht, zwart en wit, oud en nieuw, and links en rechts" — all culturally fixed, all without an article.

Key Takeaways

Five situations to remember from this lesson. One: in the common pattern, "zonder plus noun has no article. In English, without a book — in Dutch, zonder boek. Two: met takes no article in two cases — when it stresses the opposite of zonder, as in met partner, and when it describes a technical feature, as in met alarm or met afstandsbediening. The exception is important: when met introduces a specific individual person, use een — met een collega. Three: als meaning as takes no article. The noun names a role — als vrijwilliger, als vader. Four: per always takes no article. Per trein, per persoon, per les. Five: common pairs take no article before either noun. Mes en vork, pen en papier, naald en draad, man en vrouw." These five situations extend what you already knew about no-article contexts in Dutch.

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 B1 course.