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Consonants

Spelling exercises Dutch spelling reform in 2006

English version by Bieneke Berendsen :: other languages

When you produce a consonant, the airwave that leaves your mouth is modified by a certain 'obstruction' that you create with your tongue or lips. This results in a sound that you could classify as zooming, rattling, hissing, et cetera. Without this obstruction, you would be pronouncing a

vowel.

The following consonants are pronounced roughly the same as in English: b, c, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, q, s, t, x, y, z

The Dutch have three consonant combinations in which the separate consonants are merged into a new sound: ch, sch, and ng. You can find these at the bottom of this page.

b	[b] The same as in English. breed (wide), blauw (blue), boven (above) [p] If it occurs at the end of a word, it is pronounced the same as the letter 'p' (see below). krab (crab), kwab (lobe), web (web)
c	The same as in English: [s] Before i or e, we pronounce it like 's'. centrum (centre), cinema (cinema), ceremonie (ceremony) [k] In all other cases, this consonant sounds like 'k'. calligrafie (calligraphy), cliënt (client), creatief (creative)
d	[d] The same as in English. dame (lady), dief (thief), dwerg (dwarf) [t] If it appears at the end of a word, it is pronounced like 't' (see below). hond (dog), kleed (carpet), land (land)
f	[f] The letter f sounds similar to v [v] and w [ʋ]. The same goes for English but the Dutch pronounce these letters in a slightly different way. The Dutch v sounds more like English f and the Dutch w is something between English w and v. Compare the three consonants: fier (proud), vier (four), wier (seaweed) fout (error), vouw (crease), woud (forrest) Fin (Finnish person), vin (fin of a fish), win (as in "I win") fraai (beautiful), vraag (question), wraak (revenge)
g	[ɣ] The famous Dutch guttural sound.. geinig (funny), grap (joke), berg (mountain) Some people find it hard to distinguish between g and h. Compare the following pairs and see if you can hear the difference: gaan (to go) / haan (rooster) goed (good) / hoed (hat) gier (vulture) / hier (here) gek (crazy) / hek (fence) gang (corridor) / hang (tendency) Or try this tongue twister: "Het gaat heel goed" (It is going really well) In Flanders and in the southern part of the Netherlands, this consonant sounds much softer [x].
h	[h] This letter is pronounced more or less the same as in English. An English speaker tends to release more air while pronouncing it. hoofd (head), hals (throat), hemel (heaven)
j	[j] Pronounce like English y in yellow jarig (adjective for having one's birthday), spiegeltje, (little mirror), jas (coat, jacket)
k	[k] The Dutch k sounds pretty much the same as the English k. The Dutch do not release as much air as the English [kʰ]. koning (king), kwaad (angry), klein (small)
l	There are (subtly) different ways to pronounce this consonant: Compare, for example, lift and well. If this consonant occurs before a vowel, it is pronounced 'lighter' (with the tip of tongue) than when it is placed after a vowel. Compare the two different types of l: [l] At the beginning: lief (sweet), lid (member), lente (spring) [ɫ] At the end: bril (glasses), deel (part), smal (narrow)
m	[m] The same as in English: muis (mouse), markt (market), man (man)
n	[n] The same as in English: naald (needle), nooit (never), niet (not)
p	[p] The letter p is pronounced more or less the same as in English. The English tend to release more air [pʰ]. paard (horse), pijn (pain), plak (slice)
qu	[kv] The letter q only occurs in originally foreign words. It is always combined with the vowel 'u'. The combination qu is pronounced the same as in English. aquarium (aquarium), quasi (quasi), queeste (quest), quiz (quiz)
r	The Dutch use three different types of r. Before a vowel, you hear either a 'Spanish' [ɾ] or a 'French' r [ʁ]. Before a consonant or at the end of a word the Dutch usually pronounce the 'English' r [ɹ]. Read more about the letter r. In the examples below, you will hear a Spanish and an English r. radar (radar) /ɾadɑɹ/, regendruppel (rain drop) /ɾeɣəndɾʏpəɫ/, verwarming (heating) /vəɹʋɑɹmɪŋ/
s	[s] The same as in English. stoom (steam), slak (snail), samen (together)
t	[t] The Dutch t is more or less the same as the English t. The English release more air when they pronounce the letter t [tʰ]. taart (cake), trein (train), twaalf (twelve)
v	[v] The Dutch only make a very small distinction between v and f (see also 'f' above). Pronounce like English f in half: vader (father), lever (liver), vent (chap)
w	[ʋ] Pronounce like English v (see also the letter 'f' above). wijzen (to point), wortel (root), bewoond (inhabited)
x	[ks] In Dutch, the letter x only appears in borrowed words. It is pronounced in exactly the same way as in English. extra (extra), fixatie (fixation), exact (exact)
y	[j] We pronounce this letter the same as in English. The 'greek y', as the Dutch call this letter, only appears in foreign words. It is listed both as a vowel and a consonant (like in English). If it occurs before a vowel, we pronounce it the same as the letter 'j' (see above). rayon (disctrict, department), royaal (generous), coyote (coyote)
z	[z] This consonant has the same sound as in English. The Dutch, however, often pronounce it as 's' (see above). zalf (balm), zoen (kiss), zwaan (swan)

Consonant combinations

ch	[x] When we combine c and h, we get a sound which is the same as the letter 'g' [ɣ] (see above). There are linguists who say that g and ch are (or should be) pronounced differently but this is a distinction that hardly any Dutch speaker makes. licht (light), bochel (hunch), stichting (foundation)
sch	[sx] or [sɣ] The same as the above but preceded by 's': schip (ship), waarschijnlijk (probably), schrander (clever)
ng	[ŋ] The English have the same letter combination: Pronounce as ng in king, long, or string. Note, that it is never pronounced as ng in linger or tango. wang (cheek), zingen (to sing), mengen (to mix)

The only important rule applied to consonants is:

A syllable never ends in two identical consonants

English words like buzz, butt, Swiss, or fall would be impossible in the Dutch language.

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[j] Pronounce like English y in yellow

[v] The Dutch only make a very small distinction between v and f (see also 'f' above). Pronounce like English f in half:

[ʋ] Pronounce like English v (see also the letter 'f' above).

Consonant combinations

[x] When we combine c and h, we get a sound which is the same as the letter 'g' [ɣ] (see above). There are linguists who say that g and ch are (or should be) pronounced differently but this is a distinction that hardly any Dutch speaker makes.

[sx] or [sɣ] The same as the above but preceded by 's':

[ŋ] The English have the same letter combination: Pronounce as ng in king, long, or string. Note, that it is never pronounced as ng in linger or tango.