de of het zenuwcentrum?
het zenuwcentrum
nerve centre
noun · /ˈzeː.nyu̯ˌsɛn.trʏm/
It is “het zenuwcentrum”. The plural is “de zenuwcentra”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zenuwcentrum
Forms
- Article
- het zenuwcentrum
- Plural
- de zenuwcentra
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
De hersenen zijn het zenuwcentrum.
The brain is the nerve centre.
Dit kantoor is het zenuwcentrum van het project.
This office is the nerve centre of the project.
Ze bezochten het zenuwcentrum van de operatie.
They visited the nerve centre of the operation.
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 zenuwcentrum” rather than as “zenuwcentrum” 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.