de of het opvanghuis?
het opvanghuis
shelter
noun · /ˈɔp.fɑŋˌɦœy̯s/
It is “het opvanghuis”. The plural is “de opvanghuizen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: opvanghuis
Forms
- Article
- het opvanghuis
- Plural
- de opvanghuizen
- Diminutive
- het opvanghuisje
- Also means
- building where people, victimised
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Er is een nieuw opvanghuis geopend.
A new shelter has opened.
Zij verblijft tijdelijk in het opvanghuis.
She is temporarily staying in the shelter.
Vrijwilligers helpen in het opvanghuis.
Volunteers help in the shelter.
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 opvanghuis” rather than as “opvanghuis” 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.