de of het bootongeluk?
het bootongeluk
boat accident
noun · /ˈboːtˌɔŋ.ɣə.lʏk/
It is “het bootongeluk”. The plural is “de bootongelukken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bootongeluk
Forms
- Article
- het bootongeluk
- Plural
- de bootongelukken
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het bootongeluk was erg tragisch.
The boat accident was very tragic.
De politie onderzoekt een bootongeluk.
The police are investigating a boat accident.
Door het bootongeluk strandde de boot.
Due to the boat accident, the boat ran aground.
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 bootongeluk” rather than as “bootongeluk” 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.