de of het stadscentrum?
het stadscentrum
city center
noun · /ˈstɑtˌsɛn.trʏm/
It is “het stadscentrum”. The plural is “de stadscentra”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: stadscentrum
Forms
- Article
- het stadscentrum
- Plural
- de stadscentra
- Diminutive
- het stadscentrumpje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het stadscentrum is erg levendig.
The city center is very lively.
We fietsen naar het stadscentrum.
We cycle to the city center.
Onze favoriete bakker zit in het stadscentrum.
Our favorite bakery is in the city center.
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 stadscentrum” rather than as “stadscentrum” 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.