de of het eigendom?
het eigendom
property
noun · /ˈɛi̯ɣə(n)ˌdɔm/
It is “het eigendom”. The plural is “de eigendommen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: eigendom
Forms
- Article
- het eigendom
- Plural
- de eigendommen
- Diminutive
- het eigendommetje
- Also means
- possession, ownership
- How common
- among the 5,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Dit huis is mijn eigendom.
This house is my property.
Het eigendom van de fiets is overgedragen.
The ownership of the bicycle has been transferred.
Respecteer altijd andermans eigendom.
Always respect other people's property.
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 eigendom” rather than as “eigendom” 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.