de of het zoenoffer?
het zoenoffer
peace offering
noun · /ˈzunˌɔ.fər/
It is “het zoenoffer”. The plural is “de zoenoffers”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zoenoffer
Forms
- Article
- het zoenoffer
- Plural
- de zoenoffers
- Also means
- expiatory offer, piacular sacrifice
- How common
- in everyday Dutch
In a sentence
Een kopje thee was zijn zoenoffer.
A cup of tea was his expiatory offer.
Zijn excuses waren een zoenoffer voor haar.
His apologies were an expiatory offer to her.
Dit offer dient als zoenoffer voor de fouten.
This sacrifice serves as an expiatory offer for the mistakes.
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 zoenoffer” rather than as “zoenoffer” 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.