de of het hartfalen?
het hartfalen
heart failure
noun · /ˈɦɑrtˌfaː.lə(n)/
It is “het hartfalen”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: hartfalen
Forms
- Article
- het hartfalen
- Also means
- heart attack
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hartfalen is een ernstige aandoening.
Heart failure is a serious condition.
Roken kan leiden tot hartfalen.
Smoking can lead to heart failure.
Medicijnen kunnen het hartfalen vertragen.
Medication can slow down the heart failure.
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 hartfalen” rather than as “hartfalen” 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.