de of het uithoudingsvermogen?
het uithoudingsvermogen
endurance
noun
It is “het uithoudingsvermogen”. The plural is “de uithoudingsvermogens”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: uithoudingsvermogen
Forms
- Article
- het uithoudingsvermogen
- Plural
- de uithoudingsvermogens
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Voor een marathon heb je veel uithoudingsvermogen nodig.
For a marathon, you need a lot of endurance.
Mijn uithoudingsvermogen is niet zo goed meer.
My endurance isn't that good anymore.
Regelmatig sporten verbetert je uithoudingsvermogen enorm.
Regular exercise greatly improves your endurance.
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 uithoudingsvermogen” rather than as “uithoudingsvermogen” 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.