de of het sterfbed?
het sterfbed
deathbed
noun · /ˈstɛrf.bɛt/
It is “het sterfbed”. The plural is “de sterfbedden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: sterfbed
Forms
- Article
- het sterfbed
- Plural
- de sterfbedden
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Op zijn sterfbed vertelde hij de waarheid.
On his deathbed, he told the truth.
Het sterfbed van oma was vredig.
Grandma's deathbed was peaceful.
Ik stond aan haar sterfbed.
I stood at her deathbed.
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 sterfbed” rather than as “sterfbed” 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.