de of het aangezicht?
het aangezicht
face
noun · /ˈaːn.ɣəˌzɪxt/
It is “het aangezicht”. The plural is “de aangezichten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: aangezicht
Forms
- Article
- het aangezicht
- Plural
- de aangezichten
- Diminutive
- het aangezichtje
- Also means
- countenance
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Haar aangezicht was bleek van schrik.
Her face was pale from fright.
Er verscheen een glimlach op zijn aangezicht.
A smile appeared on his face.
Het aangezicht van de oude man toonde diepe rimpels.
The old man's face showed deep wrinkles.
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 aangezicht” rather than as “aangezicht” 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.