de of het oosten?
het oosten
east
noun · /ˈoːs.tə(n)/
It is “het oosten”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: oosten
Forms
- Article
- het oosten
- Also means
- orient, eastern world
- How common
- among the 3,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
De beschaving kwam op in het Oosten.
Civilisation arose in the East.
De zon komt op in het oosten.
The sun rises in the east.
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 oosten” rather than as “oosten” 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.