de of het asiel?
het asiel
asylum
noun · /aːˈzil/
It is “het asiel”. The plural is “de asiels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: asiel
Forms
- Article
- het asiel
- Plural
- de asiels
- Diminutive
- het asieltje
- Also means
- animal shelter
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Hij heeft asiel aangevraagd.
He applied for asylum.
Het hondje komt uit het asiel.
The puppy comes from the shelter.
Zij kregen asiel in Nederland.
They received asylum in the Netherlands.
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 asiel” rather than as “asiel” 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.