de of het eindexamen?
het eindexamen
final exam
noun · /ˈɛi̯nt.ɛkˌsaː.mə(n)/
It is “het eindexamen”. The plural is “de eindexamens”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: eindexamen
Forms
- Article
- het eindexamen
- Plural
- de eindexamens
- Diminutive
- het eindexamentje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het eindexamen is volgende week.
The final exam is next week.
Ik moet leren voor het eindexamen.
I have to study for the final exam.
Hij heeft zijn eindexamen gehaald.
He passed his final exam.
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 eindexamen” rather than as “eindexamen” 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.