de of het antwoordapparaat?
het antwoordapparaat
answering machine
noun · /ˈɑnt.ʋoːrt.ɑ.paːˌraːt/
It is “het antwoordapparaat”. The plural is “de antwoordapparaten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: antwoordapparaat
Forms
- Article
- het antwoordapparaat
- Plural
- de antwoordapparaten
- Diminutive
- het antwoordapparaatje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
We hebben geen antwoordapparaat meer.
We don't have an answering machine anymore.
Luister je de berichten op het antwoordapparaat af?
Are you listening to the messages on the answering machine?
Spreek je naam in na de piep op het antwoordapparaat.
State your name after the beep on the answering machine.
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 antwoordapparaat” rather than as “antwoordapparaat” 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.