de of het bondgenootschap?
het bondgenootschap
alliance
noun · /ˈbɔnt.xəˌnoːt.sxɑp/
It is “het bondgenootschap”. The plural is “de bondgenootschappen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bondgenootschap
Forms
- Article
- het bondgenootschap
- Plural
- de bondgenootschappen
- Diminutive
- het bondgenootschapje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het bondgenootschap tussen de twee bedrijven zal hun concurrentiepositie versterken.
The alliance between the two companies will strengthen their competitive position.
Het politieke bondgenootschap werd gesloten om een gemeenschappelijk doel te bereiken.
The political alliance was formed to achieve a common goal.
Ze sloten een nieuw bondgenootschap.
They formed a new alliance.
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 bondgenootschap” rather than as “bondgenootschap” 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.