de of het zaagsel?
het zaagsel
sawdust
noun · /ˈzaːx.səl/
It is “het zaagsel”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zaagsel
Forms
- Article
- het zaagsel
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Er lag veel zaagsel op de vloer.
There was a lot of sawdust on the floor.
De hamster slaapt op zaagsel.
The hamster sleeps on sawdust.
Veeg het zaagsel van de werkbank.
Sweep the sawdust off the workbench.
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 zaagsel” rather than as “zaagsel” 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.