The Dutch Alphabet: All 26 Letters with Pronunciation | A1 Dutch, Lesson 1B
Welcome to Lesson one b. In this lesson we go through every letter of the Dutch alphabet, one by one. For each letter you will hear two Dutch words. Listen carefully — a few letters sound very different from English. Let's begin.
Aa
The Dutch letter a makes two sounds. Short a is open and brief — listen: man. Long aa is held longer, like the a in vader — listen: maan.
Bb
B. Sounds like the English b. boek. bed.
Cc
C. The sound depends on the next letter. Before a, o, or u it sounds like k — café. Before e or i it sounds like s — cent.
Dd
D. Sounds like the English d. dag. deur.
Ee
The Dutch letter e. Two sounds. Short e is like the e in bed — pen. Long ee is like the vowel in day, but hold it steady without the glide — been.
Ff
F. Sounds like the English f. fiets. foto.
Gg
The Dutch letter G. This is the most distinctive Dutch sound. Make it at the back of your throat — a gentle guttural rasp, like clearing your throat lightly. Note: in the south of the Netherlands and in Belgium, the g is softer. goed. groot.
Hh
The Dutch letter h - Like the English h, but lighter — more of a gentle breath. huis. hond.
Ii
The Dutch letter i. Two sounds. Short i is like the i in sit — vis. Long ie is like ee in see — fiets.
Jj
J. Important: in Dutch, J sounds like the English letter Y — as in yes. It does not sound like the J in jump. ja. jaar.
Kk
K. Sounds like the English k. koffie. klein.
Ll
L. Sounds like the English l. laan. lamp.
Mm
M. Sounds like the English m. mooi. man.
Nn
N. Sounds like the English n. naam. nacht.
Oo
O. Two sounds. Short o is a rounded sound — zon. Long oo is like the vowel in go, hold it steady — boom.
Pp
P. Sounds like the English p. pen. pak.
Q. Q is rare in Dutch — it appears mainly in words borrowed from other languages. quiz. quilts.
Rr
R. Dutch R varies by speaker. Some roll it at the front of the mouth. Others make it at the back of the throat. Both are correct. rood. regen.
Ss
S. Sounds like the English s. stoel. slapen.
Tt
T. Sounds like the English t. tafel. tijd.
Uu
U. Two sounds. Short u has no English equivalent — say a short i sound and then round your lips: bus. Long uu is like the French u or German ü: uur.
Vv
V. Start with the English v. In the Netherlands, V is often softer and partly devoiced — it can sound close to f. Your English v will be understood. vier. vrouw.
Ww
W. Dutch W is closer to an English v than to an English w, but softer. It is not quite a v and not quite a w — somewhere in between, leaning toward v. water. warm.
Xx
X. X is rare in Dutch — mainly in borrowed words. It sounds like ks. taxi. mix.
Yy
Y. Y is rare in Dutch. It is called Griekse ij. In borrowed words, its pronunciation depends on the word. yoga. baby.
Zz
Z. Sounds like the English z. zijn. zee.
All 26 Letters
You have now seen all twenty-six letters of the Dutch alphabet. Remember the three letters that surprise English speakers most: J sounds like Y, W is closer to V than English W, and G is guttural. In Lesson one c we go deeper into the special Dutch sounds — ij, ui, eu, oe, and the consonants that make Dutch distinctive. See you there.
Practice What You Learned
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Next lesson: Special Dutch Sounds: ie, oe, ei/ij, ui, eu, ou/au and the Dutch g →
Veel succes en tot de volgende les! (Good luck and see you in the next lesson!)
