de of het kernwapen?
het kernwapen
nuclear weapon
noun · /ˈkɛrnˌʋaː.pə(n)/
It is “het kernwapen”. The plural is “de kernwapens”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kernwapen
Forms
- Article
- het kernwapen
- Plural
- de kernwapens
- Diminutive
- het kernwapentje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Niemand wil een kernwapen gebruiken.
Nobody wants to use a nuclear weapon.
De dreiging van kernwapens is reëel.
The threat of nuclear weapons is real.
Het nieuwe kernwapen is nog krachtiger.
The new nuclear weapon is even more powerful.
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 kernwapen” rather than as “kernwapen” 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.