de of het natrium?
het natrium
sodium
noun · /ˈnaː.triˌʏm/
It is “het natrium”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: natrium
Forms
- Article
- het natrium
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Dit dieet is laag in natrium.
This diet is low in sodium.
Natrium is een chemisch element.
Sodium is a chemical element.
Te veel natrium verhoogt de bloeddruk.
Too much sodium increases blood pressure.
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 natrium” rather than as “natrium” 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.