de of het platencontract?
het platencontract
recording contract
noun
It is “het platencontract”. The plural is “de platencontracten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: platencontract
Forms
- Article
- het platencontract
- Plural
- de platencontracten
- Diminutive
- het platencontractje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De band tekende eindelijk het platencontract.
The band finally signed the recording contract.
Ze kreeg een goed platencontract aangeboden.
She was offered a good recording contract.
Het platencontract is bijna rond.
The recording contract is almost finalized.
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 platencontract” rather than as “platencontract” 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.