de of het slaapgebrek?
het slaapgebrek
sleep deprivation
noun · /ˈslaːp.xəˌbrɛk/
It is “het slaapgebrek”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: slaapgebrek
Forms
- Article
- het slaapgebrek
- Also means
- lack of sleep
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Door slaapgebrek voel ik me moe.
Because of sleep deprivation, I feel tired.
Veel mensen hebben last van slaapgebrek.
Many people suffer from sleep deprivation.
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 slaapgebrek” rather than as “slaapgebrek” 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.