de of het uitsluitsel?
het uitsluitsel
definite answer
noun
It is “het uitsluitsel”. The plural is “de uitsluitsels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: uitsluitsel
Forms
- Article
- het uitsluitsel
- Plural
- de uitsluitsels
- Also means
- exclusion
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
We wachten op het uitsluitsel.
We are waiting for the definite answer.
Wanneer krijgen we eindelijk uitsluitsel?
When do we finally get a definite answer?
Er is nog geen uitsluitsel over de uitslag.
There is no definite answer about the result yet.
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 uitsluitsel” rather than as “uitsluitsel” 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.