de of het doodseskader?
het doodseskader
death squad
noun · /ˈdoːts.ɛsˌkaː.dər/
It is “het doodseskader”. The plural is “de doodseskaders”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: doodseskader
Forms
- Article
- het doodseskader
- Plural
- de doodseskaders
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het doodseskader zaaide overal angst.
The death squad sowed fear everywhere.
De dictator richtte een doodseskader op.
The dictator established a death squad.
Er waren geruchten over een doodseskader.
There were rumors about a death squad.
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 doodseskader” rather than as “doodseskader” 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.