de of het vluchtelingenkamp?
het vluchtelingenkamp
refugee camp
noun · /ˈvlʏx.tə.lɪ.ŋə(n)ˌkɑmp/
It is “het vluchtelingenkamp”. The plural is “de vluchtelingenkampen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: vluchtelingenkamp
Forms
- Article
- het vluchtelingenkamp
- Plural
- de vluchtelingenkampen
- Diminutive
- het vluchtelingenkampje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het vluchtelingenkamp is erg groot.
The refugee camp is very large.
Ze gingen naar een vluchtelingenkamp.
They went to a refugee camp.
Veel mensen wonen in het vluchtelingenkamp.
Many people live in the refugee camp.
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 vluchtelingenkamp” rather than as “vluchtelingenkamp” 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.