de of het kroonjuweel?
het kroonjuweel
crown jewel
noun · /ˈkroːn.jyˌ(ʋ)eːl/
It is “het kroonjuweel”. The plural is “de kroonjuwelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: kroonjuweel
Forms
- Article
- het kroonjuweel
- Plural
- de kroonjuwelen
- Diminutive
- het kroonjuweeltje
- Also means
- core ideal
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Dit product is het kroonjuweel van ons bedrijf.
This product is the crown jewel of our company.
Is het park het kroonjuweel van deze stad?
Is the park the crown jewel of this city?
Die zeldzame postzegel is zijn kroonjuweel.
That rare stamp is his crown jewel.
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 kroonjuweel” rather than as “kroonjuweel” 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.