de of het elektriciteitsnet?
het elektriciteitsnet
electricity network
noun · /ˌeː.lɛk.tri.siˈtɛi̯ts.nɛt/
It is “het elektriciteitsnet”. The plural is “de elektriciteitsnetten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: elektriciteitsnet
Forms
- Article
- het elektriciteitsnet
- Plural
- de elektriciteitsnetten
- Diminutive
- het elektriciteitsnetje
- Also means
- electrical grid, power grid
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het elektriciteitsnet levert ons stroom.
The electricity grid supplies us with power.
Er was een storing in het elektriciteitsnet.
There was a fault in the electricity network.
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 elektriciteitsnet” rather than as “elektriciteitsnet” 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.