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Common Dutch Words Pronunciation Examples

(You probably came here from Learn Dutch Pronunciation)

 1. 'Voiceless, unstressed E' click to hear (the 'schwa')  
 2. Dutch Sounds not Found in English 

 CH / G 
 EI / IJ 
 EU 
 U / UU 
 UI 
  

 E (UH) - 'voiceless, unstressed E' click to hear (the 'schwa')

Single E after a consonant at the end of a word is almost always pronounced as voiceless E:
aarde click to hear ('the earth; soil, dirt') - alle click to hear ('all') - dezelfde click to hear ('the same') - hetzelfde click to hear ('the same') - eerste click to hear 2 ('first') - laatste click to hear 2 ('last') - einde click to hear 2 ('end') - groente click to hear ('vegetable, vegetables') - welke click to hear 2 ('which') - zusje click to hear ('sister')

BE-, GE-, TE- and VER- prefixes (word beginnings: be-, ge-, te- and ver- click to hear) have voiceless E:
- belasting click to hear ('tax, burden') - besluit click to hear ('decision') - betaling click to hear 2 ('payment')
- geluid click to hear ('sound') - gemak click to hear ('ease, convenience') - gereedschap click to hear ('tools') - gevoel click to hear ('a feeling') - gezicht click to hear 2 ('face; view') - gezond click to hear ('healthy')
- tekort click to hear 2 ('shortage') - terug click to hear ('back' - return) - tevreden click to hear ('content, satisfied') - verandering click to hear ('change') - verklaring click to hear ('declaration') - verlies click to hear ('loss') - vermaak click to hear ('amusement, entertainment') - verzoek click to hear 2 ('request')

-EN, -ER and -EL suffixes (word endings -en, -er and -el click to hear) have voiceless E:
- benen click to hear 2 ('legs') - boven click to hear 2 ('up, upstairs; over') - buiten click to hear 2 ('outside') - binnen click to hear 2 ('inside') - mensen click to hear ('people, men, human beings') - open click to hear ('open')
- achter click to hear ('behind') - lekker click to hear 2 ('tasting good, enjoyable, pleasant') - boter click to hear ('butter') - mager click to hear ('skinny, thin') - moeder click to hear ('mother')
- appel click to hear ('apple') - deksel click to hear ('top of pan, jar, box') - lepel click to hear ('spoon') - tafel click to hear 2 3 4 ('table') - vogel click to hear 2 ('bird') - winkel click to hear 2 ('shop')

But unfortunately, be, ge, te, ver, en, er  or el  are not always prefixes or suffixes. There is only a small group of one-syllable words with voiceless E: de click to hear ('the') ->> - te click to hear ('at; too') - me click to hear ('me') ->> - je click to hear ('you') - ge click to hear (Flemish 'you') - we click to hear ('we') - ze click to hear ('she; they')
- 'n click to hear ('a') - 't click to hear ('the; it') - m'n click to hear ('my') - z'n click to hear ('his') - and the colloquial 'r click to hear ('her; ~there') - d'r click to hear ('her; ~there')
more examples but there are many one-syllable words (and names) beginning with be-, ge-, ter- or ver- or ending in -en, -er or -el that have 'short E,' for example:
- en click to hear 2 ('and') - er click to hear ('~there') - bel click to hear ('bell' - not church) - gen click to hear ('gene') - tel click to hear ('count') - ver click to hear ('far') - bek click to hear ('animal mouth') - berg click to hear ('mountain') - gek click to hear ('crazy, insane; a crazy person') - tent click to hear ('tent')
You may hear words with two vowels that sound like 'voiceless E' because the Dutch 'short U' has that same sound (for instance: 'bussen' click to hear 2 3 ('busses, buses') - but there are no Dutch words that are combinations of only prefixes and/or suffixes.
beter click to hear 2 ('better') - beste click to hear ('best') - geven click to hear 2 ('to give') - tegen click to hear ('against') - teken click to hear 2 ('sign') - verte click to hear 2 ('distance, in the distance') - bevel click to hear ('order, command') - beker click to hear 2 ('mug, large cup, beaker')
Carrying over into compound words: - tegenovergesteld click to hear ('opposite') - tekening click to hear 2 ('drawing' - pencil, ink) - gegeven click to hear 2 ('given, fact, information') - (de) lucifer click to hear ('match' - for lighting fire) - Nederland click to hear 2 ("Holland," 'The Netherlands' ‑>>)

Words of 3 or more syllables may contain both a voiceless-E prefix and a suffix, or two voiceless-E prefixes or suffixes:
begeleiding click to hear 2 ('accompaniment') - afgevaardigde click to hear 2 ('delegate, representative') - beneden click to hear ('down, downstairs') - geboorte click to hear ('birth') - gedachte click to hear ('a thought') - geheugen click to hear 2 3 ('memory' - brain function) - genoegen click to hear ('pleasure, enjoyment') - verzinsel click to hear ('fiction') - verlangen click to hear 2 ('to long (for); a desire') - verleden click to hear 2 ('the past') - verkiezingen click to hear ('elections' ->>) - overmorgen click to hear 2 ('the day after tomorrow') - winkelen click to hear 2 ('to shop')
Past participles often have a ge-/verb root/-en pattern:
ik heb gelachen click to hear ('I have laughed') - ik heb gegeven click to hear ('I have given')
- ik heb genomen click to hear ('I have taken')

2. Dutch sounds not found in English

 CH / G click to hear

"A sound like you clear your throat." There is no sound like it in English, but it is like J in European Spanish, and a similar sound is found in Hebrew and Arabic.
chaos click to hear ('chaos') - cholera click to hear ('cholera') - chroom click to hear ('chrome') - lach click to hear ('a laugh') - toch click to hear 2 ('yet, still') - nacht click to hear ('night') - dicht click to hear ('closed') - lucht click to hear ('air') - rechts click to hear ('right (not left)') - rechter click to hear ('judge; on the right') - licht click to hear ('light') - lichaam click to hear ('body') - zacht click to hear ('soft') - echt click to hear 2 ('real')
Dutch CH and G do not sound exactly the same, but the difference is very small and foreign students shouldn't worry about it.
lachen click to hear 2 ('to laugh') / vlaggen click to hear 2 ('flags')
ga! click to hear ('go!') - gal click to hear 2 ('gall') - ge click to hear (Flemish 'you') - eg click to hear ('agriculture tool') - geel click to hear 2 3 ('yellow') - god click to hear ('god') - glad click to hear ('smooth, slippery') - grijs click to hear 2 ('grey') - graag click to hear 2 ('yes, please') - boog click to hear ('bow, arch') - genoeg click to hear ('enough') - dag click to hear 2 ('day; goodbye') - dagen click to hear 2 ('days') - weg click to hear ('way, road') - wegen click to hear ('roads') - brug click to hear ('bridge') - bruggen click to hear ('bridges') - erg click to hear ('very; bad') - begin click to hear ('beginning, start') - gas click to hear ('a gas')

EI / IJ click to hear
"between FATE and FIGHT" - hear Dutch: feit click to hear ('fact')
"between MATE and MIGHT" - hear Dutch: mijt click to hear ('parasitic bug')
There is no sound like Dutch EI/IJ in English, but it's very similar to French EI, like in soleil click to hear 2 ('sun') or the city of Marseille click to hear
- ei click to hear ('egg') - geit click to hear 2 ('goat') - reis click to hear 2 ('journey, trip') - klein click to hear 2 3 ('small, little') - trein click to hear ('train') - meisje click to hear ('girl') - leider click to hear ('leader') - scheiding click to hear ('separation, divorce') - neiging click to hear ('tendency, inclination') - eigenaar click to hear ('owner') - eigendom click to hear ('property') - waarheid click to hear 2 ('truth')
ijs click to hear ('ice') - bij click to hear ('~at, near') - gij click to hear 2 (Flemish 'you') - hij click to hear ('he') - mij click to hear ('me') - wij click to hear 2 ('we') - zij click to hear 2 ('she; they') - dijk click to hear 2 ('levee, dike') - pijn click to hear ('pain') - spijt click to hear ('remorse') - wijn click to hear 2 ('wine') - vrijheid click to hear ('freedom, liberty') - blijheid click to hear ('happiness, gladness')

 EU click to hear

There is no sound like Dutch EU in English, but French has a sound like it in words like deux click to hear (French: '2') and German has a sound like Dutch EU in some words with Ö or OE like Gödel click to hear (a mathematician) - schön click to hear 2 3 (German: 'beautiful, good') or Goethe click to hear and you may have heard of the Swedish city of Göteborg click to hear
- deur click to hear 2 ('door') - geur click to hear ('smell') - neus click to hear ('nose') - leuk click to hear 2 ('nice, entertaining') - breuk click to hear 2 ('crack, breach; fraction') - kleur click to hear 2 ('color') - steun click to hear ('support') - scheur click to hear ('a tear, a rip') - keuze click to hear ('choice') - beurt click to hear ('turn - oportunity, obligation' - in a game, in a queue)

 U/UU ('Long' U) click to hear

There is no sound in English similar to Dutch 'long U,' but is is found in French, like in cru or dur click to hear and in German, like in Hügel and Muesli click to hear
U click to hear ('you' - formal) - uur click to hear ('hour') - nu click to hear 2 ('now') - duur click to hear ('expensive') - puur click to hear 2 ('pure') - vuur click to hear 2 ('fire') - muziek click to hear 2 ('music')

  UI click to hear 2 3

There is no sound like Dutch UI in English, but French has it in a word like l'oeil click to hear ('the eye') - hear Dutch: lui click to hear ('lazy')
- uit click to hear 2 ('out') - buik click to hear ('belly') - duim click to hear 2 ('thumb') - huid click to hear 2 ('skin') - huis click to hear 2 ('house') - tuin click to hear 2 ('yard, garden') - vuil click to hear ('dirt, dirty stuff; dirty') - bruin click to hear 2 3 ('brown') - juist click to hear ('right, correct; exactly!') - suiker click to hear ('sugar')
When there is no consonant ending the word, some Dutchmen say UI with a consonant-Y-sound (Dutch J) at the end: ui(j) click to hear ('onion') - but I prefer the pronunciation with a Dutch W: ui(w) click to hear - but the plural uien click to hear ('onions') has the consonant-Y-sound (Dutch J)

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Gij zult niet stelen click to hear 'Thou shalt not steal'