de of het cynisme?
het cynisme
Cynicism
noun · /siˈnɪs.mə/
It is “het cynisme”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: cynisme
Forms
- Article
- het cynisme
- Also means
- cynical attitude
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Cynisme helpt niemand vooruit.
Cynicism doesn't help anyone progress.
Ik hoorde een vleugje cynisme in zijn stem.
I heard a hint of cynicism in his voice.
Haar reactie was vol van cynisme.
Her reaction was full of cynicism.
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 cynisme” rather than as “cynisme” 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.