de of het aambeeld?
het aambeeld
anvil
noun · /ˈaːmˌbeːlt/
It is “het aambeeld”. The plural is “de aambeelden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: aambeeld
Forms
- Article
- het aambeeld
- Plural
- de aambeelden
- Diminutive
- het aambeeldje
- Also means
- incus
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het aambeeld is erg zwaar.
The anvil is very heavy.
De smid legt het ijzer op het aambeeld.
The blacksmith places the iron on the anvil.
Naast het aambeeld lag een oude hamer.
Next to the anvil lay an old hammer.
Why this article
No rule predicts it
This one has to be memorised. No spelling pattern marks it as neuter, which is exactly why it is worth learning as “het aambeeld” rather than as “aambeeld” on its own.
The rules that do work
- • Every plural takes “de”, without exception.
- • Every diminutive ending in -je takes “het”, without exception.
- • Nouns ending in -ing, -heid, -tie, -teit or -schap take “de”.
- • Roughly two thirds of all nouns take “de”, so it is the better guess.
Other nouns whose article has to be memorised
Stop guessing de and het
Woordje has a practice mode for exactly this: it shows a noun and asks for the article, and keeps asking until you stop getting it wrong.