de of het wangedrag?
het wangedrag
misconduct
noun · /ˈʋɑn.ɣəˌdrɑx/
It is “het wangedrag”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: wangedrag
Forms
- Article
- het wangedrag
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het wangedrag van de studenten was duidelijk.
The misconduct of the students was clear.
Hij werd ontslagen wegens wangedrag.
He was fired due to misconduct.
De directie tolereert geen wangedrag.
The management tolerates no misconduct.
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 wangedrag” rather than as “wangedrag” 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.