de of het voorschrift?
het voorschrift
regulation
noun · /ˈvoːr.sxrɪft/
It is “het voorschrift”. The plural is “de voorschriften”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: voorschrift
Forms
- Article
- het voorschrift
- Plural
- de voorschriften
- Diminutive
- het voorschriftje
- Also means
- prescription
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Ik heb een nieuw voorschrift voor mijn medicatie.
I have a new prescription for my medication.
Alle medewerkers moeten de voorschriften volgen.
All employees must follow the regulations.
Lees het veiligheidsvoorschrift goed door.
Read the safety instruction carefully.
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 voorschrift” rather than as “voorschrift” 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.