de of het kielzog?
het kielzog
wake
noun · /ˈkil.zɔx/
It is “het kielzog”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kielzog
Forms
- Article
- het kielzog
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De boot liet een lang kielzog achter.
The boat left a long wake behind.
Zij volgde in het kielzog van haar mentor.
She followed in the wake of her mentor.
In het kielzog van de storm was veel schade.
In the wake of the storm there was much damage.
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 kielzog” rather than as “kielzog” 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.