de or het
Dutch has two words for 'the'. There is no rule. Here is what to do instead.
English has one word for 'the'. Dutch has two: de and het.
There is no rule that tells you which one to use. Dutch children learn them one by one, over years. So will you.
Never learn a noun alone. Learn 'het huis', not 'huis'.
That is the whole strategy. Every phrase in this app already gives you the noun with its word attached, so if you learn the phrases you get this for free.
A few things ARE predictable, and they cover a lot of ground:
de huizen
the houses
Every plural is de. No exceptions. Free win.
het biertje
the (small) beer
Anything ending in -je is het.
het Nederlands
Dutch (the language)
Languages are het.
het gebouw
the building
Words starting with ge-, be-, ver- are usually het.
watch out
Do not let this slow you down. Saying 'de huis' instead of 'het huis' is a small accent, not a mistake that stops people understanding you. Say the sentence. Fix the word later.