de of het afweergeschut?
het afweergeschut
anti-air defence
noun · /ˈɑf.ʋeːr.ɣəˌsxʏt/
It is “het afweergeschut”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: afweergeschut
Forms
- Article
- het afweergeschut
- Also means
- anti-aircraft gun
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het afweergeschut stond klaar.
The anti-aircraft defence was ready.
Ze installeerden nieuw afweergeschut bij de stad.
They installed new anti-aircraft defence near the city.
Plotseling opende het afweergeschut het vuur.
Suddenly, the anti-aircraft defence opened fire.
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 afweergeschut” rather than as “afweergeschut” 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.