de of het contactverbod?
het contactverbod
restraining order
noun · /kɔnˈtɑkt.fərˌbɔt/
It is “het contactverbod”. The plural is “de contactverboden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: contactverbod
Forms
- Article
- het contactverbod
- Plural
- de contactverboden
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hij kreeg een contactverbod opgelegd.
He was issued a restraining order.
Het contactverbod is nog steeds van kracht.
The restraining order is still in effect.
Hij negeerde het contactverbod en werd gearresteerd.
He ignored the restraining order and was arrested.
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 contactverbod” rather than as “contactverbod” 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.