de of het schepsel?
het schepsel
creature
noun · /ˈsxɛp.səl/
It is “het schepsel”. The plural is “de schepsels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: schepsel
Forms
- Article
- het schepsel
- Plural
- de schepsels
- Diminutive
- het schepseltje
- Also means
- life form, wretch, vulnerable, contemptible, miserable individual
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Het kleine schepsel sliep vredig.
The small creature slept peacefully.
Ik zag een vreemd schepsel in de tuin.
I saw a strange creature in the garden.
Alle levende schepselen verdienen respect.
All living creatures deserve respect.
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 schepsel” rather than as “schepsel” 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.