de of het dienstwapen?
het dienstwapen
service weapon
noun · /ˈdinstˌʋaː.pə(n)/
It is “het dienstwapen”. The plural is “de dienstwapens”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: dienstwapen
Forms
- Article
- het dienstwapen
- Plural
- de dienstwapens
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Elke agent heeft een dienstwapen.
Every officer has a service weapon.
De beveiliger controleert zijn dienstwapen.
The security guard checks his service weapon.
Het dienstwapen moet veilig opgeborgen worden.
The service weapon must be stored safely.
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 dienstwapen” rather than as “dienstwapen” 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.