de of het lesgeld?
het lesgeld
tuition fee
noun · /ˈlɛs.xɛlt/
It is “het lesgeld”. The plural is “de lesgelden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: lesgeld
Forms
- Article
- het lesgeld
- Plural
- de lesgelden
- Also means
- fee for lessons
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Je moet het lesgeld op tijd betalen.
You must pay the tuition fee on time.
Het lesgeld is dit jaar verhoogd.
The tuition fee has been increased this year.
Voor deze workshop betaal je geen lesgeld.
You don't pay tuition for this workshop.
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 lesgeld” rather than as “lesgeld” 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.