de of het ambt?
het ambt
office
noun · /ɑm(p)t/
It is “het ambt”. The plural is “de ambten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: ambt
Forms
- Article
- het ambt
- Plural
- de ambten
- Diminutive
- het ambtje
- Also means
- function, post
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hij bekleedt een belangrijk ambt.
He holds an important office.
Wanneer treedt de nieuwe voorzitter in ambt?
When does the new chairman take office?
Het ambt van burgemeester is zwaar.
The office of mayor is difficult.
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 ambt” rather than as “ambt” 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.