Dutch verbs and plurals will look much less confusing when you understand the
Dutch spelling rules.
Note that single 'e' in Dutch is often voiceless: "uh." me ze je te
Double vowels are always long (linguists say 'free.')
Note: There is no double 'i' in Dutch; it's always written as 'ie.'
raad - reed - [ried] - rood - Ruud vaar - veer - [vier] - voor - vuur Note: Dutch vowels are even longer when followed by an 'r' -
more.
A single vowel at the end of a word or syllable is always (pronounced)
long. Linguists call this a 'free' vowel.
Exception: Single 'e' at the end of a word is always
'voiceless': "uh." Note: Single 'i' at the end of a word is rare
(only found in words of foreign origin); it's usually 'ie'
ga - [de] - [die] - juli - zo - nu
A single vowel followed by a consonant at the end of a word is always short.
Linguists call this a 'covered' vowel.
Exception: 'uw' is always long
das - des - dis - dos - dus - [duw] pat - pet - pit - pot - put
Longer words are broken up in syllables.
If there's a single consonant
between vowels, that consonant usually goes to the second syllable.
A syllable ending in a vowel is called 'open,' and
that vowel will be free ('long.') manen: ma-nen
A syllable ending in a consonant is called 'closed.'
A single vowel before that consonant will be covered ('short.')
mannen: man-nen
Note: Only at the end of a word is single 'e' always voiceless;
as the last letter of a syllable that's not the last of a word,
single 'e' will be either voiceless or long.
banen - (ba-nen)
benen - (be-nen)
tienen - (tie-nen)
bonen - (bo-nen)
buren (bu-ren)
baren - (ba-ren)
beren - (be-ren)
bieren - (bie-ren)
boren - (bo-ren)
buren (bu-ren)
Two or more consonants are usually divided between syllables, so the vowel
in the first syllable will be covered ('short.')
danken - (dan-ken)
denken - (den-ken)
zinken - (zin-ken)
bonken - (bon-ken)
dunken (dun-ken)
Note: The constituting parts of compound words retain their original form.
kweepeer (kwee-peer)
theepot (thee-pot
tweedracht (twee-dracht)
A double consonant is pronounced the same as a single consonant,
not longer or with a pause in between; the consonant is doubled only to
indicate that the preceding single vowel is short.
grote grootte hete heette late haatte
bakken - (bak-ken)
bekken - (bek-ken)
bikken - (bik-ken)
bokken - (bok-ken)
bukken (buk-ken)
Remember that there are three (3) kinds of 'e' in Dutch:
long, short and voiceless. veel vellen - een en 'n - heet het 't
The voiceless 'e' is found in prefixes be-, ge-, ver-,
and in suffixes -e, -er and -en.
and maybe in most unstressed syllables.
Examples
la lat laat latten (lat-ten) lade (la-de) laden (la-den)2 ka kat kater (ka-ter) katten (kat-ten)2 pa pas pa's passen (pas-sen) Pasen (Pa-sen) na nat naad natte (nat-te) naden (na-den) vete (ve-te) veto (ve-to) vette (vet-te) wedde (wed-de)
weten (we-ten) wetten (wet-ten)2 waden (wa-den) watten (wat-ten) Wadden (Wad-den) water (wa-ter)2
More exceptions:
'ch' and 'sch' do not split, and a single vowel before 'ch' is usually short:
lachen
lachten
kuchen
kuchten
(la-chen)
(lach-ten)
(ku-chen)
(kuch-ten)
When not stressed, single 'a,' 'o' and 'u' are often covered ('short') in open syllables:
lawaai
kabaal
kapitaal
laboratorium
kapel
(la-waai)
(ka-baal)
(ka-pi-taal)
(la-bo-ra-to-rium)
(ka-pel)
Combinations of two different vowels are always long
'ei' and 'ij' represent the same sound, as do 'au' and 'ou.'
When an ending -(e, -en, -er)
is added to a word that ends in a double vowel followed by
a single consonant, that double vowel will be reduced to a single
vowel. The vowel will still be long, it's only a change in spelling;
the syllable will be open, so the vowel will be free (long.)
This may be confusing to foreign learners, but it's perfectly
logical. Once you understand the rules you'll agree.
maal
malen (ma-len)
mal
malle (mal-le)
meet
meten (me-ten)
met
metten (met-ten)
boot
boten (bo-ten)
bot
botten (bot-ten)
fuut
futen (fu-ten)
hut
hutten (hut-ten)
zwaar
zware (zwa-re)
zwaard
zwaarden (zwaar-den)
zweer
zweren (zwe-ren)
zweert
zweerden (zweer-den)
koor
koren (ko-ren)
koord
koorden (koor-den)
stuur
sturen (stu-ren)
stuurt
stuurden (stuur-den)
Dutch words will not end in 'v' or 'z.' When removing an ending like
-e, -en or -er, a preceding 'v' will change to 'f,'
and a 'z' will change to 's.' brave/braaf - durven/durf - wezen/wees - verzen/vers2 smoezen/smoes - hoeven/hoef - wuiven/wuif - blijven/blijf/blijft
Note #1: Maybe I can even say that 'z' is only found before a vowel.
Note #2: Not every 'f' or 's' at the end of a word
will revert to a 'v' or 'z.'
bruisen/bruis - huizen/huis - eisen/eis - wijzer/wijs sloven/sloof - sloffen/slof - dieven/dief - straffen/straf Note #3: English also has this change in words like
wife/wives, and although there's no spelling change, I think
the middle 's' in the plural houses tends more to a 'z' than in
the singular house.
Weak Verbs with a stem that ends in 'd' or 't' will double that 'd' or 't'
in the plural of the past tense; this makes no difference in pronunciation.
wij laden - wij laadden - jullie melden - julie meldden -
zij dichten - zij dichtten
