de of het strottenhoofd?
het strottenhoofd
larynx
noun · /ˈstrɔ.tə(n)ˌɦoːft/
It is “het strottenhoofd”. The plural is “de strottenhoofden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: strottenhoofd
Forms
- Article
- het strottenhoofd
- Plural
- de strottenhoofden
- Diminutive
- het strottenhoofdje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het strottenhoofd zit in je keel.
The larynx is in your throat.
Je gebruikt het strottenhoofd om te spreken.
You use the larynx to speak.
Ze had last van haar strottenhoofd.
She had a problem with her larynx.
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 strottenhoofd” rather than as “strottenhoofd” 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.