de of het dwaalspoor?
het dwaalspoor
wrong track
noun · /ˈdʋaːl.spoːr/
It is “het dwaalspoor”. The plural is “de dwaalsporen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: dwaalspoor
Forms
- Article
- het dwaalspoor
- Plural
- de dwaalsporen
- Diminutive
- het dwaalspoortje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De detective zat op een dwaalspoor.
The detective was on a wrong track.
Zijn leugen zette ons op een dwaalspoor.
His lie put us on a wrong track.
Let op, anders raak je op een dwaalspoor.
Pay attention, otherwise you'll get on a wrong track.
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 dwaalspoor” rather than as “dwaalspoor” 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.