de of het zenuwgas?
het zenuwgas
nerve gas
noun · /ˈzeː.nyu̯ˌɣɑs/
It is “het zenuwgas”. The plural is “de zenuwgassen”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zenuwgas
Forms
- Article
- het zenuwgas
- Plural
- de zenuwgassen
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Zenuwgas is een chemisch wapen.
Nerve gas is a chemical weapon.
Het zenuwgas werd opgeslagen in containers.
The nerve gas was stored in containers.
Zou zenuwgas ooit weer gebruikt worden?
Would nerve gas ever be used again?
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 zenuwgas” rather than as “zenuwgas” 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.