de of het rouwproces?
het rouwproces
mourning process
noun · /ˈrɑu̯.proːˌsɛs/
It is “het rouwproces”. The plural is “de rouwprocessen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: rouwproces
Forms
- Article
- het rouwproces
- Plural
- de rouwprocessen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het rouwproces is voor iedereen anders.
The mourning process is different for everyone.
Een rouwproces kan lang duren.
A mourning process can take a long time.
Ze kreeg steun tijdens haar rouwproces.
She received support during her mourning process.
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 rouwproces” rather than as “rouwproces” 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.