de of het vredesverdrag?
het vredesverdrag
peace treaty
noun · /ˈvreː.dəs.vərˌdrɑx/
It is “het vredesverdrag”. The plural is “de vredesverdragen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: vredesverdrag
Forms
- Article
- het vredesverdrag
- Plural
- de vredesverdragen
- Diminutive
- het vredesverdragje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het vredesverdrag is eindelijk getekend.
The peace treaty has finally been signed.
Ze onderhandelen over een nieuw vredesverdrag.
They are negotiating about a new peace treaty.
De details van het vredesverdrag zijn complex.
The details of the peace treaty are complex.
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 vredesverdrag” rather than as “vredesverdrag” 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.