de of het hersenspinsel?
het hersenspinsel
figment
noun · /ˈɦɛr.sənˌspɪn.səl/
It is “het hersenspinsel”. The plural is “de hersenspinsels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: hersenspinsel
Forms
- Article
- het hersenspinsel
- Plural
- de hersenspinsels
- Diminutive
- het hersenspinseltje
- Also means
- fantasy
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Dat is slechts een hersenspinsel.
That is merely a figment.
Het was maar een hersenspinsel van hem.
It was just a figment of his imagination.
Dit plan lijkt me een hersenspinsel.
This plan seems like a figment to me.
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 hersenspinsel” rather than as “hersenspinsel” 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.