de of het mensdom?
het mensdom
humanity
noun · /ˈmɛns.dɔm/
It is “het mensdom”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: mensdom
Forms
- Article
- het mensdom
- Also means
- mankind
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De toekomst van het mensdom is onzeker.
The future of humanity is uncertain.
Het mensdom staat voor grote uitdagingen.
Humanity faces great challenges.
Technologie verandert het mensdom snel.
Technology changes humanity quickly.
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 mensdom” rather than as “mensdom” 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.