de of het aanvalsplan?
het aanvalsplan
attack plan
noun · /ˈaːn.vɑlsˌplɑn/
It is “het aanvalsplan”. The plural is “de aanvalsplannen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: aanvalsplan
Forms
- Article
- het aanvalsplan
- Plural
- de aanvalsplannen
- Diminutive
- het aanvalsplannetje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het aanvalsplan is klaar voor uitvoering.
The attack plan is ready for execution.
We bespreken het aanvalsplan morgenochtend.
We will discuss the attack plan tomorrow morning.
Ze werken aan een nieuw aanvalsplan.
They are working on a new attack plan.
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 aanvalsplan” rather than as “aanvalsplan” 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.