Dutch Grammar • Short vowels

Dutch spelling reform 2006

Short vowels are single vowels that are followed by one or more consonants within the same syllable.

Single vowels that are followed by ch but not within the same syllable (in the following one) are also considered short vowels. This is a nasty little exception hardly worth mentioning, since so few words face it. Nonetheless it must be mentioned.

When a word ends in a consonant, it is easy to see that the single vowel preceding this consonant is a short vowel: the word fregat (frigate) ends in a consonant (t) and is preceded by a single vowel (a), which is thus a short vowel.

Figuring out whether a vowel is short or long

If the single vowel is somewhere in the middle of a word, you need to divide the word into syllables to see whether the vowel sits at the end of the syllable (long vowel) or whether it is followed by a consonant within the same syllable (short vowel).

What about the following vowels? Are they long or short?

afmeting

af - me - ting

The letter a is followed by the letter f, and is thus a short vowel.

The letter e is an open vowel, which makes it a long vowel. The letter i is followed by the consonants ng and thus a short vowel.