de of het lichaam?
het lichaam
body
noun · /ˈlɪxaːm/
It is “het lichaam”. The plural is “de lichamen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: lichaam
Forms
- Article
- het lichaam
- Plural
- de lichamen
- Diminutive
- het lichaampje
- Also means
- corpse, dead body, legal body, association, assembly
- How common
- among the 1,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Gezond eten is goed voor het lichaam.
Healthy eating is good for the body.
Na het sporten voelt mijn hele lichaam moe.
After exercising, my whole body feels tired.
De dokter onderzocht het lichaam zorgvuldig.
The doctor examined the body carefully.
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 lichaam” rather than as “lichaam” 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.