de of het levensbelang?
het levensbelang
vital importance
noun
It is “het levensbelang”. The plural is “de levensbelangen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: levensbelang
Forms
- Article
- het levensbelang
- Plural
- de levensbelangen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Schoon water is van levensbelang.
Clean water is of vital importance.
Het levensbelang van lezen wordt vaak onderschat.
The vital importance of reading is often underestimated.
Rust is van levensbelang voor haar herstel.
Rest is of vital importance for her recovery.
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 levensbelang” rather than as “levensbelang” 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.