de of het bloedvat?
het bloedvat
blood vessel
noun · /ˈblut.fɑt/
It is “het bloedvat”. The plural is “de bloedvaten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bloedvat
Forms
- Article
- het bloedvat
- Plural
- de bloedvaten
- Diminutive
- het bloedvaatje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het bloedvat is heel dun.
The blood vessel is very thin.
Bloedvaten brengen zuurstof door het lichaam.
Blood vessels carry oxygen through the body.
Een beschadigd bloedvat kan bloedingen veroorzaken.
A damaged blood vessel can cause bleeding.
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 bloedvat” rather than as “bloedvat” 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.