de of het bovenlijf?
het bovenlijf
upper body
noun · /ˈboː.və(n)ˌlɛi̯f/
It is “het bovenlijf”. The plural is “de bovenlijven”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: bovenlijf
Forms
- Article
- het bovenlijf
- Plural
- de bovenlijven
- Diminutive
- het bovenlijfje
- Also means
- torso
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Zijn bovenlijf was sterk en gespierd.
His upper body was strong and muscular.
Ik voel een lichte pijn in mijn bovenlijf.
I feel a slight pain in my upper body.
De man zwom met ontbloot bovenlijf.
The man swam with his upper body bare.
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 bovenlijf” rather than as “bovenlijf” 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.