de of het ruimtewezen?
het ruimtewezen
extraterrestrial
noun · /ˈrœy̯m.təˌʋeː.zə(n)/
It is “het ruimtewezen”. The plural is “de ruimtewezens”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: ruimtewezen
Forms
- Article
- het ruimtewezen
- Plural
- de ruimtewezens
- Also means
- alien
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Denk je dat er echt een ruimtewezen bestaat?
Do you think an alien really exists?
Hij beweert een ruimtewezen te hebben gezien.
He claims to have seen an alien.
Dit ruimtewezen heeft groene ogen.
This alien has green eyes.
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 ruimtewezen” rather than as “ruimtewezen” 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.