de of het reservewiel?
het reservewiel
spare wheel
noun · /rəˈzɛr.vəˌʋil/
It is “het reservewiel”. The plural is “de reservewielen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: reservewiel
Forms
- Article
- het reservewiel
- Plural
- de reservewielen
- Also means
- spare tyre
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn auto heeft geen reservewiel.
My car doesn't have a spare wheel.
Vergeet niet het reservewiel te controleren.
Don't forget to check the spare wheel.
Het reservewiel ligt onder de kofferbak.
The spare wheel is under the boot.
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 reservewiel” rather than as “reservewiel” 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.