de of het jaargetijde?
het jaargetijde
season
noun · /ˈjaːrɣəˌtɛi̯də/
It is “het jaargetijde”. The plural is “de jaargetijden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: jaargetijde
Forms
- Article
- het jaargetijde
- Plural
- de jaargetijden
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn favoriete jaargetijde is de lente.
My favorite season is spring.
Welk jaargetijde vind jij het mooist?
Which season do you find the most beautiful?
De natuur verandert met elk jaargetijde.
Nature changes with every season.
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 jaargetijde” rather than as “jaargetijde” 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.