de of het aftreksel?
het aftreksel
extract
noun · /ˈɑfˌtrɛk.səl/
It is “het aftreksel”. The plural is “de aftreksels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: aftreksel
Forms
- Article
- het aftreksel
- Plural
- de aftreksels
- Diminutive
- het aftrekseltje
- Also means
- decoction, weak imitation
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik maak een aftreksel van verse munt.
I'm making an extract of fresh mint.
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 aftreksel” rather than as “aftreksel” 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.