de of het ziekteverlof?
het ziekteverlof
sick leave
noun · /ˈzik.tə.vərˌlɔf/
It is “het ziekteverlof”. The plural is “de ziekteverloven”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: ziekteverlof
Forms
- Article
- het ziekteverlof
- Plural
- de ziekteverloven
- Diminutive
- het ziekteverlofje
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Hij is momenteel met ziekteverlof.
He is currently on sick leave.
Je moet ziekteverlof aanvragen.
You must apply for sick leave.
Het ziekteverlof is goedgekeurd.
The sick leave has been approved.
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 ziekteverlof” rather than as “ziekteverlof” 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.