de of het startsein?
het startsein
starting signal
noun · /ˈstɑrt.sɛi̯n/
It is “het startsein”. The plural is “de startseinen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: startsein
Forms
- Article
- het startsein
- Plural
- de startseinen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het startsein voor de race klonk.
The starting signal for the race sounded.
Dit is het startsein voor ons nieuwe project.
This is the starting signal for our new project.
De voorzitter gaf het officiële startsein.
The chairman gave the official starting signal.
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 startsein” rather than as “startsein” 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.