de of het linkerbeen?
het linkerbeen
left leg
noun · /ˈlɪŋ.kərˌbeːn/
It is “het linkerbeen”. The plural is “de linkerbenen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: linkerbeen
Forms
- Article
- het linkerbeen
- Plural
- de linkerbenen
- Diminutive
- het linkerbeentje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn linkerbeen is gebroken.
My left leg is broken.
Til je linkerbeen een beetje op.
Lift your left leg a little.
Hij trapte de bal met zijn linkerbeen.
He kicked the ball with his left leg.
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 linkerbeen” rather than as “linkerbeen” 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.