de of het bankafschrift?
het bankafschrift
bank statement
noun · /ˈbɑŋk.ɑfˌsxrɪft/
It is “het bankafschrift”. The plural is “de bankafschriften”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bankafschrift
Forms
- Article
- het bankafschrift
- Plural
- de bankafschriften
- Diminutive
- het bankafschriftje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het bankafschrift ligt op tafel.
The bank statement is on the table.
Ik controleer altijd mijn bankafschrift.
I always check my bank statement.
Ik bewaar alle bankafschriften.
I save all bank statements.
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 bankafschrift” rather than as “bankafschrift” 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.