de of het modderbad?
het modderbad
mud bath
noun · /ˈmɔ.dərˌbɑt/
It is “het modderbad”. The plural is “de modderbaden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: modderbad
Forms
- Article
- het modderbad
- Plural
- de modderbaden
- Diminutive
- het modderbadje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Zij geniet van een heerlijk modderbad.
She is enjoying a wonderful mud bath.
Het varken nam een verfrissend modderbad.
The pig took a refreshing mud bath.
De kinderen maakten een groot modderbad in de tuin.
The children made a big mud bath in the garden.
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 modderbad” rather than as “modderbad” 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.