de of het toevluchtsoord?
het toevluchtsoord
refuge
noun · /ˈtu.vlʏxtsˌoːrt/
It is “het toevluchtsoord”. The plural is “de toevluchtsoorden”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: toevluchtsoord
Forms
- Article
- het toevluchtsoord
- Plural
- de toevluchtsoorden
- Diminutive
- het toevluchtsoordje
- Also means
- shelter
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Mijn kamer is mijn toevluchtsoord.
My room is my refuge.
Het toevluchtsoord bood warmte.
The refuge offered warmth.
Ze zocht een veilig toevluchtsoord.
She sought a safe refuge.
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 toevluchtsoord” rather than as “toevluchtsoord” 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.