Contents at a Glance

About the Author

Foreword to the 2nd Edition

Introduction

Part I: Getting Started

Chapter 1: You Already Know Some Dutch

Chapter 2: Low-fat Grammar: Just the Basics

Chapter 3: Number Magic: All Kinds of Counting

Part II: Dutch in Action

Chapter 4: Hallo, hoe gaat het? Greetings and Introductions

Chapter 5: Getting to Know Each Other Better

Chapter 6: Enjoying a Meal and Eating Out

Chapter 7: Shop Till You Drop

Chapter 8: Making Leisure a Top Priority

Chapter 9: When You Have to Work

Part III: Dutch on the Go

Chapter 10: Money, Banks and Post Offices

Chapter 11: Asking for Directions

Chapter 12: Staying in a Hotel

Chapter 13: Transport

Chapter 14: Emergencies

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Pick up Dutch Quickly

Chapter 16: Five Things You Should Never Do

Chapter 17: Ten Favourite Dutch Expressions

Chapter 18: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Professional

Part V: Appendices

Appendix A: Dutch Verbs

Appendix B: Mini-dictionary

Appendix C: About the Download

Appendix D: Grammar Terms Explained

Introduction

A s life has become global, knowing how to say at least a few words in other languages is becoming increasingly useful. Students do part of their studies abroad, and many businesses not only need overseas communication but travel as well. While English will do for business dealings in the Netherlands, people will open up if you know some words and phrases in Dutch. Wouldn’t it be fun to talk to your neighbours, colleagues and new friends in Dutch and have a good laugh together?

Whatever your motivation is, Dutch for Dummies, 2nd Edition can help. An expert in teaching languages and Pearson Education Benelux, publishers of the For Dummies series have combined efforts to produce a book that helps you to communicate in Dutch. You’ll not only find materials for basic communication such as greeting or ordering a meal, but also for telephoning or writing an email. Grammar rules and tables provide you with the building blocks for your personal communication. Dutch for Dummies, 2nd Edition uses a clear and simple notation system for the pronunciation of each word, while pronunciation and accent come alive on the download that supplements the book.

About This Book

This book is more than just a compilation of practical sentences and words. It will prove useful when your goal is to learn some words and phrases just to get around, but also when you intend to stay longer in the country and want to communicate with neighbours, new friends and colleagues. You can go through the book at your own pace and in your order of preference, reading and skipping as much or as little as you like. Dutch for Dummies, 2nd Edition is your personal guide: always ready for help.

Note: If you’re a novice to Dutch, you may want to read the chapters in Part I, before you start talking. This part will give you the basics, such as how to pronounce the various sounds, which will help you taking the next steps.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make this book easier to navigate through, we have set up a set of conventions:

Dutch terms are set in boldface to make them stand out.

Pronunciations are set in italics, following the Dutch terms. Stressed syllables are underlined.

Verb conjugations (lists that show you the forms of a verb) are given in tables in this order: the ‘I’ form, the ‘you’ (singular, informal) form, the ‘you’ (singular and plural, formal) form, the ‘he/she/it form’, the ‘we’ form, the ‘you’ (plural, informal) form, and the ‘they’ form. Pronunciations follow in the second column. Here’s an example of the verb werken (vehr-kuhn) (to work):

The regular verb werken (vehr-kuhn) (to work)

Conjugation | Pronunciation | Translation
ik werk | ik verk | I work
jij/je werkt werk jij/je | yeye/yuh verkt verk yeye/yuh | you work (informal singular)
u werkt | uw verkt | you work (formal)
hij/zij werkt | heye/zeye verkt | he/she works
wij werken | veye vehr-kuhn | we work
jullie werken | yuh-lee vehr-kuhn | you work (informal plural)
zij werken | zeye vehr-kuhn | they work

Language learning is a specialty, so this book includes a few elements that other For Dummies books do not. These are the new elements:

Talkin’ the Talk dialogues: Most language is oral, or spoken, and most speaking is done in dialogues between two persons, so we include dialogues throughout the book. The dialogues come under the heading ‘Talkin’ the Talk’ and show you the Dutch words, their pronunciation and the English translations. A lot of these dialogues can be found on the download that belongs to the book.

Words to Know blackboards: Memorizing words and phrases is also important in language learning, so we collect all the new words in the dialogues on a blackboard, under the heading ‘Words to Know’. Dutch nouns have a gender, which determines the (definite) article each noun takes. In the Words to Know lists, we include the article for each noun so that you memorize it together with the noun.

Also note that, because each language has its own ways of expressing ideas, the English translation that we provide for the Dutch terms may not be a literal one. We want you to understand the gist of what someone is saying, not just the words that are being said. For example, you can translate the Dutch phrase ‘Ik moet nu snel weg’ literally as ‘I have to leave soon’ but the phrase really means ‘I have to go now’. This book gives you the ‘I have to go now’ translation.

Foolish Assumptions

To write his book, we had to make some assumptions about who you are and what you want from a book called Dutch for Dummies, 2nd Edition. Here are some assumptions that we have made about you:

You know little to no Dutch – and if you do know some words and phrases, you don’t know how to organize them.

You are not looking for a book that will make you fluent in Dutch: you just want to know some words, phrases and sentence constructions so that you can communicate basic information in Dutch.

You want to learn real-life Dutch for real-life use, in a life that you have already started or will start soon. You make your own choices of the material that the book offers, not only deciding which parts and how much, but also when, where and how you study.

You want to have fun and learn some Dutch at the same time.

If these statements apply to you, you have found the right book!

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided by topics into five parts. Each part is divided into chapters. The following sections will show you what types of information you can find in each part.

Part I: Getting Started

This part is not to be missed, as it’s like the foundations of a house. As the ground work is never as exciting as what comes later, you might prefer to start with some real communication like greeting. Do as you like, and go back to the basics when you notice that you need them. In Part I you’ll find Dutch words that you probably already know, as well as the alphabet, pronunciation and some ‘first aid’ expressions. It gives you the structure of verbs, tenses and sentences and all you need to know about numbers, time, the days of the week and the different seasons.

Part II: Dutch in Action

In this part you begin learning and using Dutch. Instead of focusing on grammar points, this part focuses on everyday situations, such as talking to people, enjoying a meal, shopping, leisure and work.

Part III: Dutch on the Go

This part hands you the tools you need to find your way in Dutch in a bank, in a hotel, on the road, on a plane, a train or a taxi. This part covers all aspects of getting around in the Netherlands, and includes a chapter on handling emergencies.

Part IV: The Part of Tens

If you’re looking for small, easily digestible pieces of information about Dutch, this part is for you. Here, you can find ten ways to learn Dutch quickly, five things you should never do, ten favourite Dutch expressions and ten phrases that make you sound professional.

Part V: Appendices

The last part of the book includes important information which you can use for reference. It starts with Verb tables, which show you how to conjugate regular verbs as well as those that don’t fit into any pattern. You’ll also find a list of the tracks that appear on the download that belongs to this book, so that you can find out where in the book those dialogues are and follow along. Also, you’ll find a mini-dictionary with both Dutch to English and English to Dutch formats. In the last appendix, grammar terms that are used in this book, are explained.

Icons Used in This Book

You may be looking for particular information while reading this book. To make certain types of information more easily accessible, you’ll find the following items in the left-hand margins widely throughout the book:

This icon highlights tips that can make learning Dutch easier.

This icon points to some grammar rules that are not essential but ‘nice to know’.

If you’re looking for information and advice about culture and how to deal with the Dutch, look for these icons.

The download included in this book gives you the opportunity to listen to native Dutch speakers. This will increase your understanding of spoken Dutch. The icon marks the Talkin’ the Talk dialogues which you can find on the download. (Tip: you can click on the icon to go straight to the page with Talk dialogues).

Where to Go from Here

Learning a language is all about jumping in and just trying. So start now! You can start reading at the beginning, pick a chapter that interests you, or listen to a few dialogues on the download. Who knows, in a short time you may ask a Dutchman talking to you in English: Ik studeer Nederlands, wilt u Nederlands praten? (ik stuw-dayr nay-duhr-lants vilt uw nay-duhr-lants praa-tuhn) (I’m studying Dutch, would you mind talking Dutch?).

One Last Thing ...

You may find it odd that this book contains no references to Flanders, the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. Flemish is spoken by some six million people.

It’s true that there are differences between Flemish and Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands, but they do not impede mutual understanding. The vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation rules explained in this book will help you get along in Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges, just as well as in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague!

Those who speak French and want to learn Dutch for Flanders only, may use the French version of Dutch for Dummies : Le Néerlandais pour les Nuls by Margreet Kwakernaak, Michael Hofland and Theodoor Puttemans (Nouvelle Edition, Editions First-Gründ, ISBN 978-2-7540-3146-2).

Chapter 1

You Already Know Some Dutch

In this chapter:

The Dutch you already know

Useful responses and wishes

Reciting your ABC’s

Pronouncing vowels

Pronouncing Dutch diphthongs

Trying the ‘ch’ and the ‘g’

Pronunciation and stress

Questioning and exclaiming

T he best way to learn a language is simply to start. In this chapter you jump into the Dutch language. This chapter shows you the Dutch you probably know already, explains how to pronounce Dutch words and introduces you to some popular Dutch expressions.

The Dutch You Already Know

Dutch is an Indo-European language. Among the families of Indo-European languages, Dutch, like German and English, belongs to the German group. Many words are identical with German words or look-alikes. Though English is not as close a relative as German, English-speaking people will recognize many words as well. These words either have their roots in the same family or belong to the growing group of internationally used words.

Close relatives

The words listed below are the same in Dutch, English and German and mean the same. The only difference is the pronunciation and the spelling. German nouns start with a capital letter.

Dutch | Pronunciation | German | English
de arm | duh arm | der Arm | the arm
de bank | duh bank | die Bank | the bank
fantastisch | fan-tas-tees | fantastisch | fantastic
het glas | het khlas | der Glas | the glass
de hand | duh hant | die Hand | the hand
de sport | duh sport | der Sport | the sport
de tunnel | duh tuh-nuhl | der Tunnel | the tunnel
de wind | duh vint | der Wind | the wind

Kissing cousins

More and more English words and phrases are used in Dutch, in an area such as sports but also in daily life. The Dutch usually make small adaptations, generally in spelling. Some elderly people and purists dislike the growing influence of English but all those who make use of new products and innovations cannot avoid the English expressions. There are no completely Dutch words for de digitale tv (duh dee-khee-taa-luh tay-fay) (digital TV) or de megastore (duh may-khaa-stoar) (the megastore)! Some more frequently used words with small adaptations are:

de supermarkt | (duh suw-puhr-markt) | the supermarket
de gym | (duh khim) | the gym

Dunglish

As Dutch-speaking people are internationally orientated, the Dutch use a lot of English verbs and expressions, especially in sports, IT and business. They adapt the verbs to Dutch rules, which results in a combination of Dutch and English, or Dunglish. For example, you might hear: Ik ga dat even checken (ik khaa dat ay-fuhn cheh-kuhn) (I’m going to check that) or Het vliegtuig was overboekt (het fleekh-toaikh vas oa-fuhr-bookt) (The plane was overbooked). The Dutch find it very difficult to write this kind of verb!

Some verbs that are used in sports:

fitnessen | fit-nuh-suhn | to go to a fitness centre
joggen | jo-guhn | to jog
stretchen | stret-sjuhn | to stretch
trainen | tray-nuhn | to train, to work out

Some words from the IT world:

deleten | duh-lee-tuhn | to delete
downloaden | down-loa-duhn | to download
inloggen | in-lo-khuhn | to log in/on
printen | prin-tuhn | to print

English is very popular in management and business. Check the following verbs:

coachen | koa-tchuhn | to coach
managen | meh-nuh-zhuhn | to manage
marketen | mar-kuh-tuhn | to market
pushen | poo-sjuhn | to push

Find more about the Dutch way of conjugating English verbs in chapter 8.

Talkin’ the Talk

Don’t think that the following conversation gives you an idea of how the average Dutchman talks. However, you might overhear a similar conversation between two young men in the street:

Marcel:
Hi, hoe is ’t? Hoe is je nieuwe job?
hi hoo is het. hoo is yuh nee-wuh job
Hi, how are you, how is your new job?

Jacco:
Prima! Ik ben HR-manager bij Lease Consult en leasing is een spannende business.
pree-maa. ik ben haa-ehr meh-nuh-guhr beye lees kon-suhlt en lee-sing is uhn spa-nuhn-duh bis-nis
Fine! I’m a Human Resource manager at Lease Consult and leasing is an exciting business.

Marcel:
Echt waar? Lease Consult is een Major Account van ons!
ekht vaar? lees kon-suhlt is uhn may-guhr uh-kownt fan ons
Really? Lease Consult is one of our Major Accounts!

Jacco:
Ik kom je dus nog wel eens tegen in de Board Room.
ik kom yuh duhs nokh vel ayns tay-khuhn in duh bort room
So we’re bound to meet in the Board Room.

Marcel:
Wie weet!
vee vayt
Who knows!

Jacco:
En ben jij weer happy?
en ben yeye vayr heh-pee
So, are you happy again?

Marcel:
Ja, maar Renate zit in een dip. Fulltime werken met een kid is nogal heavy en ze wil graag parttime werken.
yaa maar ruh-naa-tuh zit in uhn dip. fool-taim vehr-kuhn met uhn kit is no-khal heh-fee en zuh vil khraakh par-taim vehr-kuhn
Yes, but Renate is in a dip. Working full-time with a kid is rather heavy and she wants to work part-time.

Jacco:
Ik begrijp het. Is parttime werken een optie?
ik buh-khreyep het. is par-taym vehr-kuhn uhn op-see
I see. Is working part-time an option?

Marcel:
Op dit moment niet. Ze zitten midden in een reorganisatie.
op dit moa-ment neet. zuh zih-tuhn mi-duhn in uhn ray-orkha-nee-saa-tsee
Not at the moment. They are in the middle of a reorganization.

Street language for Dummies

Young people in the street use their own language which changes every day. This lingo is influenced by languages such as American English, Surinam, Antillean, Turkish and Moroccan. Street language reflects the multicultural society, while trends from music (hip-hop) and TV give it an international sound. In the big cities you might overhear the following street language words:

Dutch word | Pronunciation | Translation
nakken | na-kuhn | to nick, to steal
doekoe | doo-koo | money
flex | fleks | OK, good
loesoe | loo-soo | away
een chickie checken | uhn chi-kee cheh-kuhn | to observe a girl

Family members, teachers and bosses have adopted parts of the language of the youngsters they live and work with. You might hear them saying things like: Wie is die weirdo? (vee is dee vayr-doa) (Who is that strange person?).

Words from other languages have found their way into the Van Dale Groot woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal (the main dictionary of the Dutch language). Some 330,000 Surinam people live in the Netherlands and about 150 phrases from their language have found their way into the dictionary. Some funny ones are: het okseltruitje (het ok-suhl-troai-tyuh) (the sleeveless T-shirt) which literally means ‘armpit T-shirt’ and de handknie (duh hant-knee) (the elbow), literary translated ‘the hand knee’. Not only Surinam words, but also words from Japanese, like tsunami (tsoo-naa-mee) (seaquake), Belgian, like onthaalouder (ont-haal-ow-duhr) (host parent), Arabic, like felouka (fuh-loo-kaa) (Egyptian sailboat) and Hebrew, like bollebof (bo-luh-bof ) (chief of police) can be found in a Dutch dictionary.

Useful Responses and Wishes

All language students get into the stage in which they understand a lot, but still speak poorly. People notice that you understand and they start talking to you, expecting a response. But you don’t know how to react! Learning by heart at least one positive and one negative response can be helpful in a difficult situation.

Learn a positive term like: prima (pree-maa) (excellent), a neutral one that you can use in almost any occasion without insulting anybody, like interessant (in-tuh-ruh-sant) (interesting), and have one ready in case somebody tells you something negative: wat jammer (vat ya-muhr) (what a pity). Here are some examples of useful responses and when to use them:

Wat vind je van dit restaurant? – Prima! (vat fint yuh fan dit res-toa-rant. pree-maa) (How do you like this restaurant? – Excellent!)

Heb je zin om dit weekend mee te gaan zeilen? – Fantastisch! (hep yuh zin om dit vee-kent may tuh khaan zeye-luhn. fan-tas-tees) (Would you like to go sailing this weekend? – Great!)

Zullen we even pauzeren? – OK. (zuh-luhn vuh ay-fuhn pow-zay-ruhn. oa-kay) (Shall we take a short break? – Okay.)

Dit zijn foto’s van Amsterdam twintig jaar geleden. – Wat interessant! (dit zeyen foa-toas fan am-stuhr-dam tvin-tuhkh yaar khuh-lay-duhn. vat in-tuh-reh-sant) (These are photographs of Amsterdam 20 years ago. – How interesting!)

Het concert is afgelast. – Wat jammer! (het kon-sehrt is af-khuh-last. vat ya-muhr) (The concert has been cancelled. – Too bad!)

Mijn auto is stuk. – Wat een pech! (meyen ow-toa is stuhk. vat uhn pekh) (My car broke down – Bad luck!)

In case somebody asks you to do something, you may use the next positive answers:

Help je me even? – Natuurlijk. (help yuh muh ay-fuhn. naa-tuwr-luhk) (Can you help me for a moment? – Of course.)

Kunt u mij om 11 uur bellen? – Geen probleem. (kuhnt uw meye om elf uwr beh-luhn. khayn proa-blaym) (Could you call me at 11 o’clock? –No problem.)

In case you need a negative answer, try the next safe ones:

Bent u morgen op kantoor? – Nee, het spijt me. (bent uw mor-khuhn op kan-toar. nay het speyet muh) (Are you at the office tomorrow? – No, I am sorry.)

Gaan jullie met ons mee? – Misschien de volgende keer. (khaan yuw-lee met ons may. mih-skheen duh fol-khuhn-duh kayr) (Are you accompanying us? – Maybe next time.)

For special occasions use one of the following wishes:

Fijne avond. (feye-nuh aa-font) (Have a nice evening.)

Goed weekend. (khoot vee-kent) (Have a nice weekend.)

Goede reis. (khoo-duh reyes) (Have a good trip.)

Veel plezier. (fayl pluh-zeer) (Have fun.)

Beterschap. (bay-tuhr-skhap) (I wish you a speedy recovery.)

Sterkte. (stehrk-tuh) (All the best.)

When drinking alcohol in company you can raise your glass, saying:

Proost! (proast) (Cheers!)

As your understanding of Dutch grows and you’re making friends, conversations may become more personal. In chapter 17 you’ll find useful responses to confidential or hilarious stories.

A Mouthful of Pronunciation Rules

The key to pronouncing a new language is overcoming your fear of sounding awkward and never getting it right. Don’t be afraid to sound silly and do not think that you will never succeed!

In the beginning you won’t understand a word when people are speaking a language you don’t know, but after a while you’ll start to distinguish sounds and repeating patterns. Later on you will recognize some of the patterns, like greetings and how people start and finish a phone call. Most language learners start imitating the popular patterns, repeating them as well as they can. As soon as they get a reaction, this stimulates them to go ahead and try more complex phrases. At this stage, pronunciation becomes important. The Dutch will not understand you when they don’t recognize the words you’re trying to say.

When mastering a language it speeds up the process when you learn some basic rules about how to pronounce the written words. On the road, in the streets and in the shops you will not only hear but also read words and when you know how people pronounce them, you can add them to your personal vocabulary. The following sections present you the alphabet and some basic guidelines for proper pronunciation.

Dealing with pronunciation in this book

Throughout this book, you can find the pronunciation of a Dutch word next to it in parenthesis, which we call pronunciation brackets. Within the pronunciation brackets, we separate all the words that have more than one syllable with a hyphen, like this: goedemorgen (khoo-duh-mor-khuhn) (good morning). An underlined syllable within the pronunciation brackets tells you to accent, or stress, that syllable. You’ll find more about stress in the section ‘Pronunciation and Stress’ in this chapter.

In this book the phonetic script (the script that shows you how to pronounce a word) uses letter combinations that are the English equivalents of the Dutch letter’s pronunciation.

Reciting Your ABC

The Dutch alphabet has the same number of letters as the English and German alphabets, 26. However, many of the letters are pronounced differently. English-speaking people will find the Dutch G difficult to pronounce. You’ll find some extra words to exercise.

Track 1 on the download gives you the sounds of the Dutch letters.

The Dutch alphabet

A | ah
B | bay
C | say
D | day
E | ay
F | ef
G | khay
H | hah
I | ee
J | yay
K | kah
L | el
M | em
N | en
O | oa
P | pay
Q | kuw
R | ehr
S | es
T | tay
U | uw
V | fay
W | way
X | ix
Y | eye
Z | zet

Pronouncing Vowels

Dutch has many vowel and diphthong (combined vowels) sounds, and some will be unfamiliar to your ear. Below we give the best approximation, but listening to Dutch speakers will help you to get a more accurate picture.

The vowels a, e, i, o and u can have both long, drawn-out vowel sounds and shorter vowel sounds. Luckily, there are some general rules that apply:

A vowel is short when it’s followed by one or more consonants at the end of a word or a syllable (a part of a word), as in de dag (duh dakh) (the day), geld (khelt) (money), ik (ik) (I), kort (kort) (short), druk (druhk) (busy).

A vowel is long when it’s doubled, as in gaan (khaan) (to go), geen (khayn) (no), ook (oak) (too) and uur (uwr) (hour).

A vowel is long when it’s the last letter of a syllable, as in dragen (draa-khuhn) (to carry), eten (ay-tuhn) (to eat), roken (roa-kuhn) (to smoke), juni (yuw-nee) (June).

The vowel a

The a has a short sound in closed syllables, that is if they are followed by one or more consonants at the end of a word or syllable. Try out the sound of these words:

de bal (duh bal) (the ball)

de dag (duh dakh) (the day)

het gras (het khras) (the grass)

A single letter a in an open syllable, that is at the end of a syllable or word, is pronounced like a long, drawn-out vowel sound. Try out the sound of these words:

dragen (draa-khuhn) (to carry)

de dagen (duh daa-khuhn) (the days)

de lanen (duh laa-nuhn) (the lanes)

Whether it occurs in a closed syllable or a long syllable, aa (double a) always gives that same long, drawn-out sound. Try practicing the sound with these words:

gaan (khaan) (to go)

staan (staan) (to stand)

de laan (duh laan) (the lane)

Open and closed syllables

Words can be divided into parts or syllables. Syllables are essential when you are willing to spell and pronounce words well. Knowing how to divide words in syllables will speed up your learning process, as well as knowing how to distinguish an open syllable from a closed syllable .

A syllable is a part of a word and you can find it by clapping your hands when pronouncing the word. Each clap is a syllable. You can also have a look in your dictionary. A good one will show you the words divided in syllables.

In order to be able to distinguish an open syllable from a closed syllable, you need to remember the difference between vowels and consonants. Vowels are the letters that form the central sound in a word: a, e, i, o, and u. The other letters of the alphabet are called consonants. These letters accompany the vowels and are: b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x z.

Syllables that end with one or more consonants are closed syllables. For instance, both syllables in the word paspoort (pas-poart) (passport) are closed syllables.

Syllables that end with a vowel are open syllables, as the first syllable in the word model (moa-del) (model) or the first syllable in the word euro (u-roa) (euro).

The difference between open and closed syllables is the key to understanding the pronunciation of Dutch words: open syllables have long vowels, and, when only one vowel is written in a closed syllable, the vowel sounds short. Also, when you start writing Dutch, understanding open and closed syllables helps you to know when to write double vowels and consonants.

The vowel e

When followed by one or more consonants at the end of a word, the e has a short sound. Try it out on these words:

gek (khek) (mad)

het geld (het khelt) (the money)

When the e is at the end of a syllable you pronounce it like a long, drawnout vowel sound. Try the sound in these words:

eten (ay-tuhn) (to eat)

beter (bay-tuhr) (better)

Note that when in an unstressed syllable, the e sounds like the English u in church. It is transcribed -uh .

Whether or not it’s a long syllable or a closed syllable, ee always gives a long sound. Try it, practicing on these words:

geen (khayn) (no)

geel (khayl ) (yellow)

de neef (duh nayf ) (the nephew/cousin)

The vowel i

When followed by one or two more consonants at the end of a word or syllable, i has a short vowel sound. Try it out on these words:

ik (ik) (I)

het ding (het ding) (the thing)

dicht (dikht) (closed)

When you find the i at the end of a word or syllable, you pronounce it like a long, drawn-out vowel sound. Try practicing the sound on these words:

juni (yuw-nee) (June)

de activiteit (duh ak-tee-vee-teyet) (the activity)

As we have seen, the four vowels a, e, u, o are sometimes doubled (aa, ee, uu, oo) to spell the long version of the vowel. Now you might suppose that the long i will be written as ii. Sadly, the Dutch happen to be less rational than you are: they don’t spell ii, but instead they spell ie .

drie (dree) (three)

het bier (het beer) (the beer)

de fiets (duh feets) (the bike)

The vowel o

When followed by one, two or more consonants at the end of a syllable the o has a short sound. Try to pronounce these words:

op (op) (on)

kort (kort) (short)

de pot (duh pot) (the pot)

When you find o at the end of a word or a syllable, you pronounce it like a long vowel sound. Try practicing the sound on these words:

boven (boa-fuhn) (above)

roken (roa-kuhn) (to smoke)

het document (het doa-kuw-ment) (the document)

Oo is always a long vowel, as in the next words:

ook (oak) (also)

mooi (mooy) (beautiful)

de persoon (duh per-soan) (the person)

The vowel u

When followed by one more consonants at the end of a syllable or word the u has a short sound. Try the next list of examples:

dun (duhn) (thin)

de hulp (duh huhlp) (the help)

de club (duh klup) (the club)

When you find the u in a syllable that ends in a vowel, you pronounce the u like a long, drawn-out vowel sound. Try out the sound practicing on these words:

u (uw) (you, formal)

de studie (duh stuw-dee) (the studies)

juni (yuw-nee) (June)

Uu always gives a long vowel sound. Try to pronounce these uu words:

het uur (het uwr) (the hour)

het excuus (het ek-skuws) (the excuse)

het kostuum (het kos-tuwm) (the costume)

Pronouncing Dutch Diphthongs

In a diphthong (a combination of two vowels) you hear different sounds, because the tongue moves. Diphthong means two sounds. Some of the Dutch diphthongs will be difficult for you as you don’t know them in your own language. Different sounds create different words, so Dutch people might not understand you if you don’t know how to pronounce the sounds. Observe how the Dutch do and ask them to help you!

Pronouncing the diphthongs ei and ij

The diphthong ei is a sound which does not occur in English, nor in any other major European language, and it may be a bit hard to pronounce. You will come close if you take the sound of the English word eye. Try to open your mouth a little bit more than you would do in English. Some examples of this sound:

het ei (het eye) (the egg)

mei (meye) (May)

klein (kleyen) (small)

The same sound is represented with the letter combination ij. At the beginning of a word or in an open syllable, ij sounds exactly the same as ei :

mij (meye) (me)

mijn (meyen) (my)

ijs (eyes) (ice)

When ij occurs at the end of a word in a closed syllable, the sound is reduced and you pronounce it like uh in the English word church :

heerlijk (hayr-luhk) (delicious)

makkelijk (mah-kuh-luhk) (easy)

moeilijk (mooy-luhk) (difficult)

The diphthongs ou and au

The letter combinations ou and au are two ways of spelling one and the same sound. This sound is fairly easy to produce: just like ow in English cow :

gauw (khow) (soon)

blauw (blaow) (blue)

lauw (low) (lukewarm)

oud (owt) (old)

bouwen (bow-uhn) (to build)

trouwen (trow-uhn) (to marry)

The diphthong eu

The diphthong eu is another funny Dutch diphtong that doesn’t occur in most European languages. It approximates the sound of the letter u in English pure. Try to pronounce the diphthong eu a bit more in the front of your mouth than you would do in English:

de keuken (duh ku-kuhn) (the kitchen)

de neus (duh nus) (the nose)

de sleutel (duh slu-tuhl) (the key)

The diphthong ui

Another diphtong belonging to the Dutch language is ui. We won’t even bother to compare it to any existing sound in English. The sound approximates that of ‘eu’ in the French ‘peu’. Take in mind the letter combination oai and don’t move your lips while breathing out.

buiten (boai-tuhn) (outside)

vuil (voail ) (dirty)

juist (yoaist) (right)

For many people it’s hard to hear the difference between eu and ui, and it’s even harder to actually produce these sounds. Listening intensively to the download accompanying this book may help.

When you have finally mastered the sound, celebrate it by ordering a hamburger with ui (oai) (onion) on it.

The vowel combinations ie and oe

Ie and oe are combinations of two vowels, but no diphthongs. The word diphthong means two sounds, but in ie you hear just one sound: an ee like in seen.

In oe the tongue does not move either and you hear only one sound: an oo like in to. Try to pronounce these examples of ie and oe :

drie (dree) (three)

vier (feer) (four)

hoe (hoo) (how)

het boek (het book) (the book)

Table 1.1: Pronouncing Vowels and Diphthongs

Letter
Pronunciation
Symbol
Example
Phonetics

a
between u as in cu p and a as in ca t
a
dag
dakh

aa
ar as in ma rket
aa
gaan
khaan

i
i as in bi t
i
in
in

ie
ee as in see n
ee
drie
dree

e
ee
e unstressed
e as in red, or
ay as in say
uh as in mothe r
e
ay
uh
bed
bleek
moeder
bet
blayk
moo-duhr

ei
as in eye
eye
klein
kleyen

ij
uh as in chu rch or eye as in eye
er
eye
lelijk
wij
lay-luhk
weye

o
o as in no t
o
pot
pot

oe
oo as in too
oo
hoe
hoo

ou/au
ow as in now
ow
koud, blauw
kaowt, blaow

oo
oa as in boa t
oa
ook
oak

eu
u as in pu re
u
keuken
ku-kuhn

u
u, uu
u as in fur or
as in new
uh
uw
bus
nu, muur
buhs
nuw, muwr

ui
no English equivalent
oai
buiten
boai-tuhn

Pronouncing Consonants

Consonants tend to sound the same in English and Dutch. You will soon master any few differences that you might find.

Table 1.2: Pronouncing Dutch Consonants

Letter | Pronunciation | Symbol | Example | Phonetics
b c f h k l m n p q f x y z | as in English |  |  |
ch | ch as in loch | kh | nacht | nakht
d | d as the English t at the end of a word | d/t | bed | bet
g | ch as in loch rarely zh as in pleasure | kh zh | groot genre | khroat zhen-ruh
j | y as in y es | y | ja | ya
r | r rolled or in the back of the mouth | r | rijst | reyest
s | always hard as in pass | s | stop | stop
sch | s followed by ch as in loch | skh | schaal | skhaal
v | as an English f | f | vader | faa-duhr
w | as an English v | v | water | vaa-tuhr

There is a great variety in the pronunciation of the letter r among Dutch speakers. People from Belgium and the northern provinces use a ‘rolling r’ like in Italian, others use a ‘throat r’ like in French, and yet others employ an ‘American r’. Many people mix them up, beginning words with a ‘rolling r’, and ending them with a ‘throat r’.

Pronouncing the ‘g’ and the ‘ch’

Now we get to a major obstacle for most foreign language learners: the letter g. The corresponding sound doesn’t exist in English, although other languages like French and Arab do employ it. Here is the key to the g : make it sound like kh. Try to prolongue a k in order to realize this guttural sound which happens to be a basic characteristic of Dutch.

gaan (khaan) (to go)

geen (khayn) (no)

graag (khraakh) (please)

Don’t be afraid your g sounds not quite correct, just remember that some English native speakers call Dutch ‘an illness of the throat’. Your neighbour, your boss and your colleagues will appreciate it when you’re trying to speak Dutch, and in return they will rasp an admiring goed gedaan! (khoot khuh-daan) (well done!). G is a popular letter in Dutch, and to make it even worse, the letter combination ch should sound exactly the same. Train them in the next words:

slecht (slekht) (bad)

wachten (vakh-tuhn) (to wait)

voorzichtig (foar-zikh-tuhkh) (careful)

Pronunciation and Stress

Can you believe that you’re actually looking for stress? Unfortunately, Dutch is not like French (stress is always on the last syllable), Hungarian (stress is always on the first syllable) or Polish (stress is always on the second last syllable). In Dutch you have to remember for each word where the stress is, which may be stressful.

Two rules will help you:

Verbs that end in -en, never have the stress on -en

eten (ay-tuhn) (to eat)

studeren (stu-day-ruhn) (to study)

renoveren (ray-no-fay-ruhn) (to renovate)

deleten (dee-lee-tuhn) (to delete)

Words that start with the prefixes be-, ge-, her-, ver-, er- en ont-, never have the stress on the prefix. Instead, words starting with these prefixes, stress the second syllable:

bestellen (buh-steh-luhn) (to order)

gelukkig (khuh-luh-kukh) (happy)

herinneren (heh-rih-nuh-ruhn) (to remember)

vergeten (fuhr-khay-tuhn) (to forget)

ervaren (ehr-faa-ruhn) (to experience)

ontmoeten (ont-moo-tuhn) (to meet)

In this book, the stressed syllable of each word is underlined. Pronounce the underlined syllable with more emphasis (i.e. louder) than the others:

de vader (duh faa-duhr) (the father)

bouwen (bow-uhn) (to build)

heerlijk (hayr-luhk) (delicious)

Questioning and Exclaiming

Questions start with a verb or a question word, like wie (vee) (who), wat (vat) (what), waar (vaar) (where), hoe (hoo) (how) or wanneer (vah-nayr) (when?). Even without knowing this, you will notice a question by the way it sounds: at the end of the question the voice rises. In the sentence Ga je naar huis? (khaa yuh naar hoais) (Are you going home?) the voice rises toward the last word. The same, although earlier, happens in the sentence Hoe heet ze? (hoo hayt zuh) (What’s her name?).

Sentences that end in an exclamation mark do the same, though the tone is slightly different. In the sentence Ik ga naar huis (ik khaa naar hoais) (I am going home) the voice goes down with the last word, but in the sentence Ik ga naar huis! (ik khaa naar hoais!) (I am going home!) all words are pronounced in a higher tone and this tone goes slightly up in the last word. In the sentence Ze heet Cilla (zuh hayt sih-laa) (Her name is Cilla) the tone descends in the last word. Ze heet Cilla! (zuh hayt sih-laa !) (Her name is Cilla!) sounds totally different: the tone of the whole sentence is higher and it goes up in the last word.

Spelling 1, Syllables

Pronunciation and spelling are closely related. Though pronunciation and spelling are as close to each other as members of the same family, there are differences. Most learners of Dutch think that Dutch spelling is more difficult than pronunciation, especially the spelling of the vowels. When the verb is eten (ay-tuhn) (to eat), why do I have to double the vocal in ik eet (ik ayt) (I eat)?

Throughout this book, we will help you understand not only pronunciation, but spelling as well. The basic skill for Dutch spelling is knowing how to divide words in syllables … but, how do you do that?

Dividing words into syllables

A syllable (lettergreep) is a piece of a word that forms an uninterrupted portion of sound. When you pronounce a word ‘staccato’, maybe while clapping your hands, you can hear those units. The next information will help you to know where one syllable ends and the other starts.

Try to find recognizable parts of the word. The more words you know, the easier this will be. However, also starters have good chances recognizing parts of the words.

Compositions

de Sta-tions-straat (duh staa-shons-straat) (Station Street)

het pan-nen-koe-ken-res-tau-rant (het pah-nuhn-koo-kuhn-res- toa-rant) (the pancake restaurant)

het ge-meen-te-huis (het khuh-mayn-tuh-hoais) (the town hall)

The prefixes be-, ge-, er-, her-, ver- en ont-

be-gin-nen (buh-khih-nuhn) (to start)

her-ha-len (her-haa-luhn) (to repeat)

ont-moe-ten (ont-moo-tuhn) (to meet)

The suffixes -tie en -lijk

de po-li-tie (duh po-lee-tsee) (the police)

de e-mo-tie (duh ay-moo-tsie) (the emotion)

de tra-di-tie (duh traa-dee-tsee) (the tradition)

heer-lijk (hayr-luhk) (delicious)

moei-lijk (mooy-luhk) (difficult)

mak-ke-lijk (mah-kuh-luhk) (easy)

When two vowels are separated by a consonant, the consonant is the first letter of the second syllable.

e-ten (ay-tuhn) (to eat)

ko-pen (koa-puhn) (to buy)

ge-beu-ren (khuh-buh-ruhn) (to happen)

Dutchmen avoid pronouncing groups of consonants. When there is a group of consonants in the middle of a word, the syllable ends mostly on a group of consonants, while the next syllable starts with one consonant.

prach-tig (prakh-tukh) (beautiful)

de erw-ten (duh erv-tuhn) (the peas)

ze verwacht-te (zuh fuhr-wakht-tuh) (she expected)

In order to be sure of syllables, look the word up in www.woordenlijst.org. This website of the Nederlandse Taalunie shows the official spelling of Dutch words, dividing them in syllables by dots.

Spelling 2, Single and Double Vowels

Dutch verbs have some remarkable spelling changes. As soon as you know the three basic spelling rules, the changes become predictable. After having mastered the rules for spelling vowels (a, e, i, o and u) you know sixty percent of the spelling not only of the verbs, but of all Dutch words.

Spelling vowels

Due to pronunciation- and spelling rules, we have to adapt the spelling in many words as well as verbs. In the scheme you see what happens in verbs that are pronounced with the long sounds (aa, ey, oa and uw).

Single and double vowels in Dutch verbs

long sound

ik slaap
(I sleep)
eet
(eat)
loop
(walk)
huur
(rent)

jij/je slaapt slaap jij/je
eet
eet jij/je
loopt
loop jij/je
huurt
huur jij/je

u slaapt
eet
loopt
huurt

hij/zij slaapt
eet
loopt
huurt

wij slapen
eten
lopen
huren

jullie slapen
eten
lopen
huren

zij slapen
slapen
lopen
huren

In order to represent the long sound, you spell aa, ee, oo and uu in the stem and in the stem + t forms of the verb.

Spelling rule 1: In a syllable that ends in a consonant, we spell the long sound as a double vowel

If you would spell a, e, o and u, the pronunciation would be that of a short sound: (slap), (et), (lop), (huwr).

In the plural, the verb maintains either the same long sound, or the same short sound like in the single. However, the verb has two syllables now: sla-pen, e-ten, lo-pen en hu-ren. You would expect to write these plurals like ‘slaa-pen’, ‘ee-ten’ etc, but at the end of a syllable that ends in a vowel, you have to remove one vowel, according to:

Spelling rule 2: A syllable never ends in a double vowel

So we write: slapen, eten, lopen en huren, with a single vowel.

These rules affect all Dutch words: een aap (uhn aap) (an ape), de apen (duh aa-puhn) (the apes), een week (uhn wayk)(a week), de weken (duh way-kuhn)(the weeks), een groot meisje (uhn khroat meyes-yuh) (a big girl), twee grote meisjes (tway khroa-tuh meyes-yuhs) (two big girls), een duur jurkje (uhn duwr yuhrk-yuh) (an expensive dress), de dure jurkjes (duh duw-ruh yuhrk-yuhs) (the expensive dresses).

Spelling 3, Consonants

Are you wondering why it is so important to distinguish between short and long sounds? Long and short sounds are crucial for the meaning of a word. For example, balen (baa-luhn) (to be fed up) means something completely different than ballen (bah-luhn) (to play with a ball) and spelen (spay-luhn) (to play) has nothing to do with spellen (speh-luhn) (to spell). Not pronouncing well the long and short sounds may cause a lot of misunderstandings!

Once we know that a single vowel in a syllable that ends in a consonant is pronounced as a short sound, the third spelling rule is easy. For the plural we always need an extra syllable, but how to keep the sound short?

Let’s take the stem bel (bel). When we just add –en for the plural, the result is be-len, pronounced (bay-luhn), so with a long sound. We have to do something extra in order to get the short sound (beh-luhn). The solution is:

Spelling rule 3: In order to keep a vowel sound short in a syllable that ends with a consonant, we have to double the consonant.

Ik bel (ik bel) wordt wij bellen (veye beh-luhn), ik kus (ik kus) wordt wij kussen (veye kuh-suhn).

Single and double consonants in Dutch verbs

short sound

ik bel (I call)
kus (kiss)
werk (work)

jij/je belt
bel jij/je
Kust
kus jij/je
werkt
werk jij/je

u belt
Kust
werkt

hij/zij belt
Kust
werkt

wij bellen
Kussen
werken

jullie bellen
Kussen
werken

zij bellen
Kussen
werken

We added the verb werken to the scheme to show you that nothing happens when the stem ends in two (or more) different consonants. We just add –en for the plural and the sound stays short in the plural as it sounds in the singular.

Spelling rule 4 : A Dutch syllable or word never ends in a double consonant like the English words class, less or ball. In Dutch: klas, les and bal .

Please note that these spelling rules not only apply to verbs, but to all Dutch words: de klas (duh klas) (the classroom), de klassen (duh klah-suhn) (the classrooms), de les (duh les) (the class), de lessen (duh leh-suhn) (the classes), de bal (duh bahl) (the ball), de ballen (duh bah-luhn) (the balls), de auto is kapot (duh ow-toa is kaa-pot) (the car is broken), de kapotte auto (duh kaa-poh-tuh ow-toa) (the broken car), het stuk (het stuk) (the piece), de stukken (duh stuh-kuhn) (the pieces).