de of het wespennest?
het wespennest
wasps' nest
noun · /ˈʋɛs.pəˌnɛst/
It is “het wespennest”. The plural is “de wespennesten”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: wespennest
Forms
- Article
- het wespennest
- Plural
- de wespennesten
- Diminutive
- het wespennestje
- Also means
- difficult situation, hornets' nest
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
We vonden een groot wespennest onder de dakgoot.
We found a large wasps' nest under the gutter.
Raak dat wespennest niet aan, het is gevaarlijk!
Don't touch that wasps' nest, it's dangerous!
De ongediertebestrijder heeft het wespennest verwijderd.
The pest controller removed the wasps' nest.
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 wespennest” rather than as “wespennest” 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.