de of het fenomeen?
het fenomeen
phenomenon
noun · /feː.noːˈmeːn/
It is “het fenomeen”. The plural is “de fenomenen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: fenomeen
Forms
- Article
- het fenomeen
- Plural
- de fenomenen
- Diminutive
- het fenomeentje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Klimaatverandering is een mondiaal fenomeen.
Climate change is a global phenomenon.
Onderzoekers bestuderen dit fascinerende fenomeen.
Researchers are studying this fascinating phenomenon.
Het fenomeen van de zonsverduistering is indrukwekkend.
The phenomenon of the solar eclipse is impressive.
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 fenomeen” rather than as “fenomeen” 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.