Dutch pronunciation: g, ui, ij and the long and short vowels (with audio)

The sounds that make Dutch Dutch — the throaty g, ui, ij and eu, long and short vowels — each with a recording by a Wiktionary contributor, and the spelling that tells you which sound is meant.

Updated November 3, 2026 · 3 min read

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Dutch spelling is regular: once you know which letters make which sound, you can read almost any word aloud. The traps are a handful of sounds English does not have — and the difference between a short and a long vowel, which changes the meaning (spelling rules explains how to see it on the page). Every recording below is from Wikimedia Commons, credited under Sources.

Short and long vowels

The most important distinction in Dutch pronunciation. A single vowel before a consonant at the end of a syllable is short; a double vowel is long.

In the writing exam and the listening exam this matters both ways: man or maan, bed or been are different words.

The vowel combinations

The consonants: g, ch, sch, w, v

• g and ch are made at the back of the throat — the same sound as ch in Scottish loch. In the north it is rough; in the south and in Flanders it is soft.
• sch at the start is s + that throaty sound: school. At the end of a word (Nederlandsch*) it is just s*.
• w is between English v and w, with the lower lip lightly against the teeth: water.
• v at the start often sounds close to f in the Netherlands; z close to s.
• -en at the end of a word is usually just -e: lachen sounds like lache.

Stress

Most Dutch words are stressed on the first syllable (WA-ter, LA-chen). Prefixes be-, ge-, ver-, ont- are never stressed: ver-HUI-zen (verhuizen), be-TA-len (betalen). Separable verbs are stressed on the particle: OP-staan (opstaan) — see separable verbs.

How to practise

1. Listen and repeat single words first — every Dutch verb page has a recording: zijn, hebben, gaan, komen, lezen, spreken.
2. Minimal pairs: say man / maan, bed / been, bos / boot until the difference is automatic.
3. Phrases next: the phrasebook has the everyday ones with recordings — hallo, dank je wel, alsjeblieft.
4. Record yourself and compare — the speaking exam guide has a method.

Keep learning

• Spelling rules: long and short vowels
• The Dutch phrasebook, with recordings
• All 212 Dutch verb tables, with recordings
• The Dutch grammar hub
• Free Dutch level test
• Verb tables: kunnen, moeten, willen, mogen, zullen, worden

All our Dutch grammar guides

• Spelling: long and short vowels, f/v, s/z · De or het? · Plurals and diminutives
• Adjective endings: groot or grote? · Personal pronouns: je, jij or u? · Word order: verb second, verb last
• Asking questions · Negation: niet or geen? · The present tense (and d or t)
• The perfect: hebben or zijn? · The simple past and ’t kofschip · Modal verbs: kunnen, moeten, willen, mogen, zullen
• Separable verbs