de of het welzijn?
het welzijn
well-being
noun · /ˈʋɛl.zɛi̯n/
It is “het welzijn”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: welzijn
Forms
- Article
- het welzijn
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Mijn welzijn is belangrijk voor mij.
My well-being is important to me.
Het welzijn van de dieren is een prioriteit.
The well-being of the animals is a priority.
Gezond eten draagt bij aan je welzijn.
Healthy eating contributes to your well-being.
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 welzijn” rather than as “welzijn” 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.