de of het regenwoud?
het regenwoud
rainforest
noun · /ˈreː.ɣə(n).ʋɑu̯t/
It is “het regenwoud”. The plural is “de regenwouden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: regenwoud
Forms
- Article
- het regenwoud
- Plural
- de regenwouden
- Diminutive
- het regenwoudje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het regenwoud is essentieel voor onze planeet.
The rainforest is essential for our planet.
Veel zeldzame dieren leven in het regenwoud.
Many rare animals live in the rainforest.
We moeten het regenwoud beter beschermen.
We must protect the rainforest better.
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 regenwoud” rather than as “regenwoud” 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.