de of het diafragma?
het diafragma
aperture
noun · /dijaːˈfrɑxmaː/
It is “het diafragma”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: diafragma
Forms
- Article
- het diafragma
- Diminutive
- het diafragmaatje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Stel het diafragma in op f/8.
Set the aperture to f/8.
Een groot diafragma geeft een wazige achtergrond.
A large aperture gives a blurry background.
Hij vergat het diafragma goed in te stellen.
He forgot to set the aperture correctly.
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 diafragma” rather than as “diafragma” 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.