de of het imperium?
het imperium
empire
noun · /ˌɪmˈpeː.ri.ʏm/
It is “het imperium”. The plural is “de imperia”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: imperium
Forms
- Article
- het imperium
- Plural
- de imperia
- Diminutive
- het imperiumpje
- Also means
- business empire
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het Romeinse imperium was erg groot.
The Roman empire was very large.
Hij bouwde een wereldwijd imperium op.
He built a worldwide empire.
Het imperium viel uiteindelijk uit elkaar.
The empire eventually fell apart.
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 imperium” rather than as “imperium” 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.