de of het mirakel?
het mirakel
miracle
noun · /ˌmiˈraː.kəl/
It is “het mirakel”. The plural is “de mirakels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: mirakel
Forms
- Article
- het mirakel
- Plural
- de mirakels
- Diminutive
- het mirakeltje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het herstel van de patiënt werd beschouwd als een waar mirakel.
The patient's recovery was considered a true miracle.
Volgens de overlevering heeft de heilige vele mirakels verricht.
According to tradition, the saint performed many miracles.
Het mirakeltje van genezing trok veel gelovigen naar de bedevaartsplaats.
The miracle of healing attracted many believers to the pilgrimage site.
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 mirakel” rather than as “mirakel” 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.