de of het studentenhuis?
het studentenhuis
student residence
noun · /styˈdɛn.tə(n)ˌɦœy̯s/
It is “het studentenhuis”. The plural is “de studentenhuizen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: studentenhuis
Forms
- Article
- het studentenhuis
- Plural
- de studentenhuizen
- Diminutive
- het studentenhuisje
- Also means
- student house
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het studentenhuis heeft een grote keuken.
The student residence has a large kitchen.
Ik woon nu al drie jaar in het studentenhuis.
I have lived in the student residence for three years now.
Er zijn veel studentenhuizen in deze stad.
There are many student residences in this city.
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 studentenhuis” rather than as “studentenhuis” 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.