de of het immuunsysteem?
het immuunsysteem
immune system
noun · /iˈmyn.siˌsteːm/
It is “het immuunsysteem”. The plural is “de immuunsystemen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: immuunsysteem
Forms
- Article
- het immuunsysteem
- Plural
- de immuunsystemen
- Diminutive
- het immuunsysteempje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het immuunsysteem beschermt ons tegen ziektes.
The immune system protects us against diseases.
Gezond eten versterkt je immuunsysteem.
Healthy eating strengthens your immune system.
Voldoende slaap is goed voor het immuunsysteem.
Enough sleep is good for the immune system.
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 immuunsysteem” rather than as “immuunsysteem” 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.