de of het rijexamen?
het rijexamen
driving exam
noun · /ˈrɛi̯.ɛkˌsaː.mə(n)/
It is “het rijexamen”. The plural is “de rijexamens”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: rijexamen
Forms
- Article
- het rijexamen
- Plural
- de rijexamens
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Morgen heb ik mijn rijexamen.
Tomorrow I have my driving exam.
Heb je jouw rijexamen gehaald?
Did you pass your driving exam?
Helaas ben ik gezakt voor het rijexamen.
Unfortunately, I failed the driving exam.
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 rijexamen” rather than as “rijexamen” 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.