de of het onderricht?
het onderricht
instruction
noun · /ˈɔn.də(r)ˌrɪxt/
It is “het onderricht”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: onderricht
Forms
- Article
- het onderricht
- Also means
- education, teaching
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het onderricht hier is uitstekend.
The education here is excellent.
Zij krijgt goed onderricht op school.
She receives good education at school.
De leraar geeft helder onderricht.
The teacher gives clear instruction.
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 onderricht” rather than as “onderricht” 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.