de of het rechterbeen?
het rechterbeen
right leg
noun · /ˈrɛx.tərˌbeːn/
It is “het rechterbeen”. The plural is “de rechterbenen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: rechterbeen
Forms
- Article
- het rechterbeen
- Plural
- de rechterbenen
- Diminutive
- het rechterbeentje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn rechterbeen doet pijn.
My right leg hurts.
Ze tilde haar rechterbeen op.
She lifted her right leg.
Zet je rechterbeen naar voren.
Step your right leg forward.
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 rechterbeen” rather than as “rechterbeen” 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.