de of het aanhangsel?
het aanhangsel
attachment
noun · /ˈaːnˌɦɑŋ.səl/
It is “het aanhangsel”. The plural is “de aanhangsels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: aanhangsel
Forms
- Article
- het aanhangsel
- Plural
- de aanhangsels
- Diminutive
- het aanhangseltje
- Also means
- appendix
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het aanhangsel bevat extra informatie.
The appendix contains extra information.
Dit is een klein aanhangsel aan de plant.
This is a small appendage on the plant.
De brief had een belangrijk aanhangsel.
The letter had an important attachment.
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 aanhangsel” rather than as “aanhangsel” 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.