de of het rampgebied?
het rampgebied
disaster area
noun · /ˈrɑmp.xəˌbit/
It is “het rampgebied”. The plural is “de rampgebieden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: rampgebied
Forms
- Article
- het rampgebied
- Plural
- de rampgebieden
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het rampgebied is afgezet door de politie.
The disaster area has been cordoned off by the police.
Hulpverleners zijn onderweg naar het rampgebied.
Aid workers are on their way to the disaster area.
De schade in het rampgebied is enorm.
The damage in the disaster area is enormous.
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 rampgebied” rather than as “rampgebied” 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.