de of het rayon?
het rayon
region
noun · /raːˈjɔn/
It is “het rayon”. The plural is “de rayons”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: rayon
Forms
- Article
- het rayon
- Plural
- de rayons
- Diminutive
- het rayonnetje
- Also means
- regional section, subdivision
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hij beheert dit rayon al jaren.
He has managed this region for years.
De postbode kent elk huis in zijn rayon.
The postman knows every house in his region.
Dat hele rayon is kwetsbaar voor overstromingen.
That entire region is vulnerable to floods.
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 rayon” rather than as “rayon” 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.