Dutch Phonetics & Pronunciation – Complete Guide🇳🇱 Dutch Phonetics & PronunciationIPA + simple sound hints • clear rules • lots of examples
1) Vowel Letters & Core Sounds (short vs. long)

        Dutch has 5 vowel letters aeiou, plus combos that change length/quality. A vowel is typically
        short in a closed syllable (ends with a consonant) and long in an open syllable (ends with a vowel). Long vowels can also be written with double vowels (aa, ee, oo, uu).
      
a short /ɑ/ ~ “o” in “not” (BrE)

          man /mɑn/, kat /kɑt/
aa long /aː/ ~ “aah”

          maan /maːn/ “moon”, kaas /kaːs/ “cheese”
e short /ɛ/ ~ “e” in “bed”

          hek /hɛk/, pen /pɛn/
ee long /eː/ (often [e])

          meer /meːr/ “more”, been /beːn/ “leg”
i short /ɪ/ ~ “i” in “bit”

          vis /vɪs/ “fish”, lip /lɪp/
ie long /i/ ~ “ee” in “see”

          vier /vir/ “four”, fiets /fits/ “bike”
o short /ɔ/ ~ “o” in “off”

          bos /bɔs/ “forest”, rok /rɔk/ “skirt”
oo long /oː/

          boom /boːm/ “tree”, brood /broːt/ “bread”
u short /ʏ/ (rounded, like German ü)

          bus /bʏs/, rug /rʏx/
uu long /y/ (tense ü)

          duur /dyːr/ “expensive”, muur /myːr/ “wall”
Open-syllable lengthening: In an open syllable, a single vowel letter is usually long: la- in laren → /laː/. If the syllable closes, the same vowel shortens: lamp /lɑmp/.
2) Key Diphthongs & Common Vowel Teams
ui /œy/ (unique Dutch diphthong)

          huis /hœys/ “house”, tuin /tœyn/ “garden”
ij & ei ≈ /ɛi/ same sound

          ijs /ɛis/ “ice”, ei /ɛi/ “egg”
ou & au ≈ /ʌu/ same sound

          oud /ʌut/ “old”, auto /ʌuto/
eu /øː/ (rounded mid, like Fr. eux)

          neus /nøːs/ “nose”, deur /døːr/ “door”
oe /u/ (“oo” in “food”)

          boek /buk/ “book”, broer /bruːr/ “brother”
aai /aːi/, ooi /oːi/, eui /øy/

          vaag→vaai-like, mooi “pretty”, neurose (loan)
eeuw /eːu/, ieuw /iu/, uw /yʋ/

          leeuw /leːu/ “lion”, nieuw /niu/ “new”, ruw /ryʋ/
Spelling note: ij is a digraph often treated like one letter (even in capitalization: IJmuiden).
3) Schwa & Unstressed e (very common)

        The letter e in unstressed syllables is usually pronounced as a schwa /ə/.
      
de /də/ “the (common)”, een /ən/ “a/an” (when unstressed)
beter /ˈbeːtər/ → final -er is schwa + r
lopen /ˈloːpən/ → -en often /ən/ (or reduced further in fast speech)
Plural/infinitive -en: Usually pronounced /ən/ (not a full “en”).
4) Consonants: the Dutch Specials (g, ch, sch, r, w, j)
g /ɣ/ ~ /x/

          “voiced/rough h”; regional: North often /x/; South (Flanders) milder /ɣ/
          goed /ɣut~xut/ “good”
dag /dɑx/ “day” (final devoiced)

        
ch /x/ (Scottish “loch”)

          acht /ɑxt/ “eight”
lachen /ˈlɑxən/ “to laugh”

        
sch /sx/ (s + harsh ch)

          school /sxoːl/ “school”
schip /sxɪp/ “ship”

        
r varies: [r, ʀ, ɾ, ʁ]

          Trilled (tongue-tip), uvular (throat), or tap. Word-final may weaken.
          rood /roːt/ (final devoicing)
deur /døːr/

        
w /ʋ/ (between English w & v)

          water /ˈʋaːtər/
nieuw /niu/ (w merges with u)

        
j /j/ (“y” in yes)

          jaar /jaːr/ “year”
jas /jɑs/ “coat”

        
v ~ /v/ → [f], z ~ /z/ → [s]

          At word ends, they devoice (see final devoicing).
ng /ŋ/ (sing), nk /ŋk/

          lang /lɑŋ/ “long”
bank /bɑŋk/

        
5) Final Devoicing (Eindverscherping)

        Voiced consonants become voiceless at the end of a word or syllable edge: 
        b→p, d→t, v→f, z→s, g/ɣ→x.
      
heb “have”/hɛp/
hond “dog”/hɔnt/
rood “red”/roːt/
duif “pigeon”/dœyf/
ijs “ice”/ɛis/
dag “day”/dɑx/
Inside compounds devoicing also applies if the consonant ends a syllable chunk: op+doen → /ɔp.doːn/.
6) Double Letters & Syllable Rules (spelling ↔ sound)

        Dutch balances vowel length with consonant doubling:
      
Open syllable → single vowel is long: la- in laken /ˈlaːkən/ “sheet”.
Closed syllable → single vowel is short: lak /lɑk/ “varnish”.
Double vowel marks long in a closed syllable: maan /maːn/.
Double consonant keeps the vowel short before it: mannen /ˈmɑnən/ vs manen /ˈmaːnən/.

        kk/tt/pp appear to keep vowels short: tak /tɑk/ → takken /ˈtɑkən/.
      
7) Stress Patterns & Compound Words

        Default stress is often on the first syllable of a native word. Compounds usually stress the first part.
      
tafel /ˈtaːfəl/ (first syllable)
hand+tas → handtas /ˈhɑntɑs/ “handbag” (stress on HAND)
Loanwords may stress later: hotel /hoːˈtɛl/, museum /myˈzeːjʏm/
Meaning change via stress can occur in some pairs (esp. compounds/verbs + particles). Learn common fixed stress with vocabulary.
8) The Trema (¨) in Dutch (Vowel Break Marker)

        A trema (diaeresis) shows that adjacent vowels are pronounced separately (not as one team).
      
egoïst → e-go-ïst (not *eg-ooist)
zeeën (plural of zee “sea”) → /ˈzeː.ən/
reünie → re-ü-nie
Indonesië → I-ndo-ne-si-ë
Accent marks like é occur to mark stress in some words or borrowed spellings: café, logé.
9) Tricky Look-alikes & Minimal Pairs (listen closely!)
bed /bɛt/ vs beet /beːt/ (e vs ee)
rok /rɔk/ vs rook /roːk/ (o vs oo)
bus /bʏs/ vs buur /byːr/ (u vs uu)
ijs /ɛis/ vs huis /hœys/ (ij/ei vs ui)
hout /hʌut/ vs hoed /hut/ (ou vs oe)
vet /vɛt/ vs vet (final often [f] in fast speech) devoicing
Tip: Keep /ʏ/ (short u) rounded, and distinguish /y/ (long uu) clearly.
10) Common Pronunciation Rules (Quick Reference)

      Open syllable → long vowel; closed → short. Spelling uses double vowels/consonants to keep length.
Final devoicing: b→p, d→t, v→f, z→s, g/ɣ→x at word end.
g/ch/sch: harsh throat sounds (/x/, /ɣ/); sch = /sx/.
w is /ʋ/ (not English /w/); j is /j/.
ij & ei sound the same (/ɛi/); ou & au sound the same (/ʌu/).
Unstressed -en ≈ /ən/ (often reduced).
Schwa everywhere in unstressed e: de, een, beter, lopen.
Stress usually first syllable of native words; compounds stress first part.

    
11) Practice Word List (sorted by feature)
Short vowels
kat /kɑt/, pen /pɛn/, vis /vɪs/, bos /bɔs/, bus /bʏs/
Long vowels
maan /maːn/, been /beːn/, vier /vir/, boom /boːm/, duur /dyːr/
Diphthongs
ijs /ɛis/, ei /ɛi/, huis /hœys/, oud /ʌut/, auto /ʌuto/, neus /nøːs/
Harsh consonants
acht /ɑxt/, lachen /ˈlɑxən/, goed /ɣut/, school /sxoːl/
Schwa
de /də/, lopen /ˈloːpən/, ramen /ˈraːmən/
Final devoicing
hond /hɔnt/, rood /roːt/, dag /dɑx/
12) Regional Notes (quick)

      G-sound: Northern NL often harsher /x/; Flemish/Belgian Dutch tends milder /ɣ/.
R: multiple realizations (trill, tap, uvular). Follow local models; all are understood.
V/Z voicing: More voiced in Flanders; in NL they devoice easily especially finally.

    