de of het ruggenmerg?
het ruggenmerg
spinal cord
noun
It is “het ruggenmerg”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: ruggenmerg
Forms
- Article
- het ruggenmerg
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het ruggenmerg stuurt signalen naar de hersenen.
The spinal cord sends signals to the brain.
Een beschadiging aan het ruggenmerg is ernstig.
Damage to the spinal cord is serious.
Zenuwen lopen door het ruggenmerg.
Nerves run through the spinal cord.
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 ruggenmerg” rather than as “ruggenmerg” 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.