Good news: as an English speaker you already have more Dutch sounds than you think. Dutch uses the same alphabet, many consonants are identical, and sounds like oe, j and ou have near-perfect English matches. Bad news: Dutch has a handful of sounds that English simply does not have, and some of them change the meaning of a word. In this guide we explain the Dutch sounds with their closest English equivalents.

How to practice: Say every example out loud. If possible, compare it with the audio in the word games: tap the word, listen, repeat.

Dutch vowels

In Dutch, vowels can be short or long. This difference changes the meaning, so it is very important.

Short and long vowels

Spelling	Sound	Closest English sound	Example
a (short)	short, open “a” from the back	the o in American hot, cut short	man (man)
aa (long)	long “aa”	the a in father, held longer	maan (moon)
e (short)	short “e”	the e in bed	bed (bed)
ee (long)	long “ee” with a slight “y” at the end	the ay in say	been (leg)
o (short)	short “o”	the o in British hot	pot (pot)
oo (long)	long “oo”	the oa in boat, with less of a glide	boom (tree)
i (short)	short, relaxed “i”	the i in sit	vis (fish)
ie	long “i”	the ee in see	niet (not)

Why does it matter? In pairs like man (man) and maan (moon), or zon (sun) and zoon (son), only the length of the vowel is different.

Rule: in an open syllable a single letter is also long

If a syllable is followed by a single consonant and then a vowel, a vowel written with one letter is also pronounced long:

maan → plural manen (ma-nen): a single a, but pronounced long.
boom → plural bomen (bo-men): a single o, but pronounced long.

The rounded vowels: eu, uu, u and the easy ones, oe and j

Spelling	Sound	Closest English sound	Example
eu	long “ö”	say the ay of say with rounded lips (French deux, German ö)	deur (door), leuk (nice, fun)
uu	long “ü”	say the ee of see with rounded lips (French tu, German ü)	muur (wall), duur (expensive)
u (short)	short, relaxed “ü”	a short ü, close to the u in put with the tongue further forward	bus (bus), kus (kiss)
oe	“oo”	the oo in book / boot	goed (good), boek (book)
j	“y”	the y in yes	ja (yes), jij (you)

Careful: In Dutch, oe is pronounced “oo”, while u is pronounced close to “ü”. Boek sounds like “book”, but bus does not sound like the English “bus”; it is closer to “büs”. The most common mistake English speakers make is reading the letter u the English way.

Sounds English does not have

g and ch: the “h” from the throat

The most famous sound of Dutch! g and ch are a rasping “h” produced at the back of the throat. It is a much harder, more friction-filled version of the English “h”, like the “ch” in Scottish loch.

goed (good), gaan (to go), lachen (to laugh), acht (eight), gezellig (cozy)

How do you make it? Act as if you are clearing your throat and then soften it. It is not a cat's hiss; it is closer to the sound you make when gargling.

In the south of the Netherlands the g is pronounced softer. You will be understood either way; what matters is not to say it like the English “g” in go. If you say goed as “good”, it becomes hard to understand.

sch: “s” + the throat “h”

sch is an “s” followed by the throat “h”. It is not “sh”!

school (school) → “s-khool”
schoon (clean) → “s-khoon”
Scheveningen → “S-kheveningen”

At the end of a word, -isch is pronounced “-is”: praktisch → “praktis”, logisch → “logis”.

ui: the “öy” sound

ui is a diphthong that English does not have. The closest description: start with the “ow” of house, but with your lips rounded and pushed forward and the sound more open and further front in the mouth.

huis (house) → somewhere between “house” and “hoyss”
uit (out) → “out” with rounded, forward lips
buiten (outside) → “bouten” with the same rounded vowel

ij and ei: the “ay” sound

ij and ei are pronounced the same: close to the “ay” of say, but starting a little lower, moving towards the vowel of eye.

mijn (my) → “mayn”
tijd (time) → “tayt”
klein (small) → “klayn”

ou and au: the “ow” sound

ou and au are pronounced the same too, and this one is close to English: the “ow” of how, with the end of the sound a little more rounded.

oud (old) → “owt”
koud (cold) → “kowt”
blauw (blue) → “blow” (as in “ow!”)

Tips for the consonants

Case	Rule	Example
d at the end of a word	pronounced “t”	hond (dog) → “hont”
b at the end of a word	pronounced “p”	heb → “hep”
v	between “f” and “v”, soft	vader (father)
w	lips and teeth, a soft “v”	wonen (to live)
-tie	pronounced “tsee”	informatie → “informaatsee”
-en (end of a word)	the n is usually not pronounced	lopen → “lope”

Stress: usually the first syllable

In Dutch the stress is usually on the first syllable of the word: Nederland, wonen, boeken. But in words that start with prefixes like be-, ge- and ver-, the stress falls not on the prefix but on the root: betaal, gedaan, verhuis.

In English, stress moves around a lot (PHOtograph, phoTOgraphy) and unstressed vowels tend to fade. So when you say a Dutch word with English stress habits, it can sound odd even if every sound is right.

Commonly confused word pairs

Repeat these pairs out loud:

Pair	Meaning
man – maan	man – moon
bed – beet	bed – bite
zon – zoon	sun – son
dun – doen	thin – to do
deur – duur	door – expensive
wijn – win	wine – (I) win

A 5-minute daily pronunciation routine

1 minute: Short and long vowels (man – maan, bed – beet).
1 minute: The g/ch sound (goed, acht, lachen, gezellig).
1 minute: ui and ij (huis, uit, mijn, tijd).
1 minute: The u – uu – oe distinction (bus, muur, boek).
1 minute: Say one Spreken answer slowly and clearly, and record it.

Frequently asked questions

Will my accent cost me points in the exam?

Having an accent is normal and does not cost points on its own. What matters is being understandable. But pronouncing some sounds wrongly can change the meaning of a word; so pay attention to the basic sounds in this guide.

Which sound is the most important?

For intelligibility, the short-long vowel difference and the g/ch sound are the most important. Then come ui and ij. Getting these right greatly improves how understandable your speech is.

Can I improve my pronunciation on my own?

Yes. Listen, repeat, record yourself and compare. In the Spreken practice exams what you say is transcribed; if the transcript matches what you meant to say, your pronunciation is understandable.

The best way to test your pronunciation: do a Spreken practice exam and see how what you said is transcribed.