de of het bijzijn?
het bijzijn
presence
noun · /ˈbɛi̯.zɛi̯n/
It is “het bijzijn”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bijzijn
Forms
- Article
- het bijzijn
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Hij sprak in het bijzijn van zijn ouders.
He spoke in the presence of his parents.
Ik voel me comfortabel in haar bijzijn.
I feel comfortable in her presence.
Haar plotselinge bijzijn verraste iedereen.
Her sudden presence surprised everyone.
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 bijzijn” rather than as “bijzijn” 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.