de of het schorem?
het schorem
scum
noun · /ˈsxoː.rəm/
It is “het schorem”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: schorem
Forms
- Article
- het schorem
- Also means
- riffraff
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het schorem maakt altijd overlast.
The scum always causes nuisance.
Die types zijn gewoon schorem.
Those types are just scum.
Het schorem heeft de boel weer vernield.
The scum has ruined everything again.
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 schorem” rather than as “schorem” 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.