de of het godsgeschenk?
het godsgeschenk
godsend
noun · /ˈɣɔts.xəˌsxɛŋk/
It is “het godsgeschenk”. The plural is “de godsgeschenken”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: godsgeschenk
Forms
- Article
- het godsgeschenk
- Plural
- de godsgeschenken
- Diminutive
- het godsgeschenkje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het was echt een godsgeschenk dat je op tijd kwam.
It was truly a godsend that you arrived on time.
Die onverwachte donatie is een godsgeschenk voor onze club.
That unexpected donation is a godsend for our club.
De regen was een godsgeschenk na de lange droogte.
The rain was a godsend after the long drought.
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 godsgeschenk” rather than as “godsgeschenk” 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.