de of het zonnestelsel?
het zonnestelsel
solar system
noun · /ˈzɔ.nəˌstɛl.səl/
It is “het zonnestelsel”. The plural is “de zonnestelsels”, and like every Dutch plural it takes “de”.
Pronunciation, example sentences and the rest of the entry: zonnestelsel
Forms
- Article
- het zonnestelsel
- Plural
- de zonnestelsels
- Diminutive
- het zonnestelseltje
- Also means
- star system, planetary system
- How common
- among the 10,000 most common Dutch words
In a sentence
Ons zonnestelsel heeft acht planeten.
Our solar system has eight planets.
De aarde is een planeet in ons zonnestelsel.
The Earth is a planet in our solar system.
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 zonnestelsel” rather than as “zonnestelsel” 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.