de of het maagdenvlies?
het maagdenvlies
hymen
noun · /ˈmaːɣdə(n)ˌvlis/
It is “het maagdenvlies”. The plural is “de maagdenvliezen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: maagdenvlies
Forms
- Article
- het maagdenvlies
- Plural
- de maagdenvliezen
- Diminutive
- het maagdenvliesje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het maagdenvlies bevindt zich bij de vagina-ingang.
The hymen is located at the entrance of the vagina.
Een maagdenvlies kan makkelijk scheuren.
A hymen can easily tear.
Het maagdenvlies heeft geen specifieke functie.
The hymen has no specific function.
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 maagdenvlies” rather than as “maagdenvlies” 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.