de of het chloor?
het chloor
chlorine
noun · /xloːr/
It is “het chloor”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: chloor
Forms
- Article
- het chloor
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het zwembad ruikt naar chloor.
The swimming pool smells of chlorine.
Gebruik geen chloor op dit oppervlak.
Do not use chlorine on this surface.
Pas op, chloor bleekt je kleding snel.
Be careful, chlorine quickly bleaches your clothes.
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 chloor” rather than as “chloor” 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.