de of het bloedmonster?
het bloedmonster
blood sample
noun · /ˈblutmɔnstər/
It is “het bloedmonster”. The plural is “de bloedmonsters”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bloedmonster
Forms
- Article
- het bloedmonster
- Plural
- de bloedmonsters
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De verpleegkundige nam een bloedmonster.
The nurse took a blood sample.
Het bloedmonster wordt direct geanalyseerd.
The blood sample is being analyzed directly.
We wachten op de uitslag van het bloedmonster.
We are waiting for the results of the blood sample.
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 bloedmonster” rather than as “bloedmonster” 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.