de of het ouderschap?
het ouderschap
parenthood
noun · /ˈɑu̯.dərˌsxɑp/
It is “het ouderschap”. The plural is “de ouderschappen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: ouderschap
Forms
- Article
- het ouderschap
- Plural
- de ouderschappen
- Diminutive
- het ouderschapje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ouderschap is een grote verantwoordelijkheid.
Parenthood is a big responsibility.
De cursus bereidt je voor op het ouderschap.
The course prepares you for parenthood.
Hoe beleef jij het ouderschap?
How do you experience parenthood?
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 ouderschap” rather than as “ouderschap” 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.