de of het heiligdom?
het heiligdom
sanctuary
noun · /ˈɦɛi̯.ləɣ.dɔm/
It is “het heiligdom”. The plural is “de heiligdommen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: heiligdom
Forms
- Article
- het heiligdom
- Plural
- de heiligdommen
- Diminutive
- het heiligdommetje
- Also means
- holy building, place
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Deze kerk is gebouwd op de resten van een heidens heiligdom.
This church was built on top of the remains of a pagan place of worship.
Ik mag niet in mijn moeders studeerkamer komen; dat is haar heiligdom.
I am not supposed to enter my mother's study; that's her sanctuary.
Dit heiligdom is prachtig gerestaureerd.
This sanctuary has been beautifully restored.
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 heiligdom” rather than as “heiligdom” 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.