de of het voetvolk?
het voetvolk
infantry
noun
It is “het voetvolk”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: voetvolk
Forms
- Article
- het voetvolk
- Also means
- non-mounted troops
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het voetvolk liep voorop in de aanval.
The infantry marched at the front of the attack.
De generaal stuurde het voetvolk naar voren.
The general sent the infantry forward.
Het voetvolk had veel te verduren in de strijd.
The infantry had a lot to endure in the battle.
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 voetvolk” rather than as “voetvolk” 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.