de of het eskader?
het eskader
squadron
noun · /ˌɛsˈkaː.dər/
It is “het eskader”. The plural is “de eskaders”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: eskader
Forms
- Article
- het eskader
- Plural
- de eskaders
- Diminutive
- het eskadertje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het eskader vloog laag over het water.
The squadron flew low over the water.
Een eskader bestaat uit meerdere schepen.
A squadron consists of multiple ships.
Het eskader bereidde zich voor op vertrek.
The squadron prepared for departure.
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 eskader” rather than as “eskader” 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.