de of het pantser?
het pantser
armor
noun · /ˈpɑn(t).sər/
It is “het pantser”. The plural is “de pantsers”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: pantser
Forms
- Article
- het pantser
- Plural
- de pantsers
- Diminutive
- het pantsertje
- Also means
- armour
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De ridder droeg een zwaar pantser.
The knight wore heavy armor.
De schildpad heeft een sterk pantser.
The turtle has a strong shell.
Het pantser van de tank was dik.
The armor of the tank was thick.
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 pantser” rather than as “pantser” 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.