de of het hitteschild?
het hitteschild
heat shield
noun
It is “het hitteschild”. The plural is “de hitteschilden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: hitteschild
Forms
- Article
- het hitteschild
- Plural
- de hitteschilden
- Diminutive
- het hitteschildje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het hitteschild beschermt de ruimtevaartuigen tegen de extreme hitte bij terugkeer in de atmosfeer.
The heat shield protects spacecraft from the extreme heat during re-entry into the atmosphere.
Het hitteschild is een essentieel onderdeel van de ruimtecapsule.
The heat shield is an essential component of the space capsule.
Het hitteschild beschermt de raket.
The heat shield protects the rocket.
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 hitteschild” rather than as “hitteschild” 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.