de of het nierfalen?
het nierfalen
kidney failure
noun · /ˈniːrˌfaː.lə(n)/
It is “het nierfalen”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: nierfalen
Forms
- Article
- het nierfalen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Chronisch nierfalen vereist vaak dialyse.
Chronic kidney failure often requires dialysis.
De arts waarschuwde voor acuut nierfalen.
The doctor warned about acute kidney failure.
Gezonde leefstijl kan nierfalen helpen voorkomen.
A healthy lifestyle can help prevent kidney failure.
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 nierfalen” rather than as “nierfalen” 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.