de of het redmiddel?
het redmiddel
remedy
noun · /ˈrɛtˌmɪ.dəl/
It is “het redmiddel”. The plural is “de redmiddelen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: redmiddel
Forms
- Article
- het redmiddel
- Plural
- de redmiddelen
- Diminutive
- het redmiddeltje
- Also means
- means of rescuing, saving, solution
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De reddingsboei was hun enige redmiddel.
The lifebuoy was their only means of rescue.
Snel handelen bleek het redmiddel.
Acting quickly proved to be the means of rescue.
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 redmiddel” rather than as “redmiddel” 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.