de of het serienummer?
het serienummer
serial number
noun · /ˈseː.riˌnʏ.mər/
It is “het serienummer”. The plural is “de serienummers”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: serienummer
Forms
- Article
- het serienummer
- Plural
- de serienummers
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Wat is het serienummer van dit apparaat?
What is the serial number of this device?
Het serienummer staat meestal op de achterkant.
The serial number is usually on the back.
Ik heb het serienummer genoteerd voor de garantie.
I noted the serial number for the warranty.
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 serienummer” rather than as “serienummer” 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.