Pronunciation

Dutch letters

English sound

ch sch g w v r j sj tj aa ee ie oo oe eu uu a e i o u ei / ij aai oei ooi ou / au eeuw ieuw uw ui

guttural sound, made at back of mouth s followed by guttural ch sound same as ch, guttural sound from back of mouth like v before r, otherwise like w but with bottom lip against top teeth like v, but sometimes closer to f either rolled or guttural y as in yes sh as in ship ch as in chip ah as in father, but longer ay as in hail, but shorter ee as in neat, but shorter oh as in boat oo as in pool, but shorter ur as in hurt, but with lips rounded ew, but with lips rounded (sound not found in English) ah as in father, but shorter eh as in bed ih as in bit aw as in paw, with lips rounded ir as in dirt, but very short between the sounds in "light" and "late" combination of aa and ie combination of oe and ie combination of oo and ie like ow, as in house combination of ee and oe combination of ie and oe combination of uu and oe combination of a and uu

The consonants s, f, h, b, d, z, l, m, n, and ng are pronounced the same way in Dutch as in English. P, t, and k are pronounced without the puff of air (called aspiration.) Sometimes the g is pronounced like zh in words borrowed from French. One last vowel sound is found in various Dutch spellings. It is pronounced like uh, as in along or sofa. For example, this sound is found in de (the), een (a), aardig (nice), and vriendelijk (kind).