de of het waterpeil?
het waterpeil
water level
noun · /ˈʋaː.tər.ˌpɛi̯l/
It is “het waterpeil”. The plural is “de waterpeilen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: waterpeil
Forms
- Article
- het waterpeil
- Plural
- de waterpeilen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Het waterpeil is gedaald.
The water level has dropped.
Door de regen stijgt het waterpeil.
Due to the rain, the water level is rising.
Wordt het waterpeil hier gemeten?
Is the water level measured here?
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 waterpeil” rather than as “waterpeil” 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.