de of het schoolhoofd?
het schoolhoofd
headteacher
noun · /ˈsxoːl.ɦoːft/
It is “het schoolhoofd”. The plural is “de schoolhoofden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: schoolhoofd
Forms
- Article
- het schoolhoofd
- Plural
- de schoolhoofden
- Also means
- principal, schoolmaster, schoolmistress
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De schoolhoofden hadden een overleg.
The headteachers had a consultation.
We spraken met het schoolhoofd.
We spoke with the headteacher.
Zij is het nieuwe schoolhoofd.
She is the new headteacher.
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 schoolhoofd” rather than as “schoolhoofd” 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.