de of het grensgebied?
het grensgebied
border region
noun · /ˈɣrɛns.xəˌbit/
It is “het grensgebied”. The plural is “de grensgebieden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: grensgebied
Forms
- Article
- het grensgebied
- Plural
- de grensgebieden
- Diminutive
- het grensgebiedje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het grensgebied is bekend om zijn natuur.
The border region is known for its nature.
Hij woont al lang in het grensgebied.
He has lived in the border region for a long time.
Zij verkennen graag het grensgebied.
They like to explore the border region.
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 grensgebied” rather than as “grensgebied” 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.