de of het arseen?
het arseen
arsenic
noun · /ɑrˈseːn/
It is “het arseen”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: arseen
Forms
- Article
- het arseen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Arseen is zeer giftig.
Arsenic is very toxic.
Er zit arseen in het water.
There is arsenic in the water.
Het arseen vervuilde de grond.
The arsenic contaminated the soil.
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 arseen” rather than as “arseen” 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.