de of het zonlicht?
het zonlicht
sunlight
noun · /ˈzɔn.lɪxt/
It is “het zonlicht”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zonlicht
Forms
- Article
- het zonlicht
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Het zonlicht viel door het raam.
The sunlight fell through the window.
De planten hebben veel zonlicht nodig.
The plants need a lot of sunlight.
Zonlicht geeft energie en maakt blij.
Sunlight gives energy and makes one happy.
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 zonlicht” rather than as “zonlicht” 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.