de of het achterwerk?
het achterwerk
behind
noun · /ˈɑx.tərˌʋɛrk/
It is “het achterwerk”. The plural is “de achterwerken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: achterwerk
Forms
- Article
- het achterwerk
- Plural
- de achterwerken
- Diminutive
- het achterwerkje
- Also means
- buttocks
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hij viel hard op zijn achterwerk.
He fell hard on his behind.
Het achterwerk van de baby was rood.
The baby's behind was red.
Zet je achterwerk op deze stoel.
Put your behind on this chair.
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 achterwerk” rather than as “achterwerk” 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.