de of het hoofddoel?
het hoofddoel
chief aim
noun · /ˈɦoːf(t).dul/
It is “het hoofddoel”. The plural is “de hoofddoelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: hoofddoel
Forms
- Article
- het hoofddoel
- Plural
- de hoofddoelen
- Also means
- main target
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het hoofddoel is om te winnen.
The main goal is to win.
Het hoofddoel van dit project is duurzaamheid.
The main goal of this project is sustainability.
Zijn hoofddoel was iedereen helpen.
His main goal was to help everyone.
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 hoofddoel” rather than as “hoofddoel” 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.