de of het overspel?
het overspel
adultery
noun · /ˈoː.vərˌspɛl/
It is “het overspel”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: overspel
Forms
- Article
- het overspel
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Overspel kan relaties vernietigen.
Adultery can destroy relationships.
Het overspel verraste iedereen.
The adultery surprised everyone.
Zij vergaf hem zijn overspel.
She forgave him his adultery.
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 overspel” rather than as “overspel” 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.