de of het lachgas?
het lachgas
laughing gas
noun · /ˈlɑ.xɑs/
It is “het lachgas”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: lachgas
Forms
- Article
- het lachgas
- Also means
- nitrous oxide
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De tandarts gebruikt soms lachgas.
The dentist sometimes uses laughing gas.
Jongeren gebruiken lachgas op straat.
Young people use laughing gas on the street.
Lachgas zit vaak in kleine ballonnen.
Laughing gas is often in small balloons.
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 lachgas” rather than as “lachgas” 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.