"De doosjes zijn leeg."

Translation: The boxes are empty.

[JoelusFeeus]

So even though diminutives are all het words, plurals still over rule and make them a de word?

[Zmrzlina]

Yep. All plurals become de-words.

[sirnuke]

Formally, if I understand correctly, the gender of compound words is defined by the 'last' word. de + de word is de, het + de is de, de + het is het, het + het is het. je isn't a noun by itself, but it would be neuter, so all +je diminutives are het words.

EDIT: To be clear, that's the explanation why +je diminutives are het words. Plural +je diminutives are de words like all other plurals.

[Nierls]

well diminutives aren't compound words, so your reasoning is flawed there, just remember that all diminutives are neuter.

[Tinyset]

So basically, if I am unsure of the word's gender, I can just use dimunitive on everything and add "het" to it. Would that be okay?

[crlight]

Yes, unless it is plural. Although, you would probably sound quite silly using the diminutive on everything.

[ClassiDuo]

Maybe tinyset is onto something here--a recipe to not take the world too seriously...

[kudawudashuda]

Love your thinking, have a lingot or 5

[Tinyset]

Bedankt :D

[jackheywood]

Does 'doosje' also refer to the small squares that one ticks on forms? À la 'Kästchen' in German?