Dutch spelling rules: maken but maak, katten, brieven — and d or t

Why it is maken but maak, katten but kat, brieven but brief: the four Dutch spelling rules that explain almost every change in verbs, plurals and adjectives — and the d-or-t question.

Updated November 3, 2026 · 3 min read

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Canal houses along the Singel in Amsterdam — Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized.

Dutch writes sounds consistently, and a few rules explain why words change shape when they get an ending. Learn them once and the plurals, the present tense and the adjective endings stop looking irregular.

In short: a long vowel is written once in an open syllable (ma-ken) and twice in a closed one (maak); a short vowel needs a double consonant before an ending (kat → katten); no word ends in v or z (brieven → brief, huizen → huis).

Rule 1: long vowels — one letter or two

A syllable is open when it ends in a vowel (ma-ken) and closed when it ends in a consonant (maak). A long aa, ee, oo, uu is written once in an open syllable and twice in a closed one.

Infinitive	I (stem)	Why
ma-ken	ik maak	closed → aa
le-ven	ik leef	closed → ee (and v → f)
wo-nen	ik woon	closed → oo
ho-ren	ik hoor	closed → oo

The verbs: maken, leven, wonen, horen. The same in nouns: jaar → ja-ren (years), boom → bo-men (trees).

Rule 2: short vowels — double the consonant

A short vowel must stay in a closed syllable, so before an ending the consonant is doubled: kat → kat-ten, bed → bed-den, zitten → ik zit (zitten), stoppen → ik stop (stoppen), bellen → ik bel (bellen).

Rule 3: no v or z at the end of a word

Dutch words do not end in v or z. When the ending goes, v becomes f and z becomes s: brieven → brief, huizen → huis, leven → ik leef, reizen → ik reis (reizen), lezen → ik lees (lezen).

Rule 4: d or t at the end of a verb

The most famous Dutch spelling trap. You hear the same sound, but you write what the grammar says: the stem (what is left of the infinitive) + t for jij, u, hij, zij, het.

Infinitive	Stem	ik	hij / zij / u	jij (after the verb)
worden	word	ik word	hij wordt	word jij?
vinden	vind	ik vind	zij vindt	vind jij?
antwoorden	antwoord	ik antwoord	u antwoordt	antwoord jij?
werken	werk	ik werk	hij werkt	werk jij?

So hij wordt has dt: stem word + t. But ik word and word jij? have no t (the -t drops when jij comes after the verb). Check with a verb like werken: where you hear a t in werkt, write the t. The tables for worden, vinden and antwoorden show every form.

The past participle ends in -d or -t by a different rule — ’t kofschip — explained in the perfect and the simple past.

Where you need it

In the writing exam, where spelling counts.
In every message you write at work, school or to the gemeente.
When you look a word up — the official spelling is in the Taalunie’s Woordenlijst.

Type it, then check it

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Keep learning

The present tense
Plurals and diminutives
The inburgering writing exam
The Dutch grammar hub
All Dutch verb tables
Verb tables: zijn, hebben, gaan, komen, kunnen

All our Dutch grammar guides

Frequently asked questions

Why is it maken but ik maak?

In ma-ken the long a ends an open syllable and is written once; in maak the syllable is closed, so the long a is written twice.

When do you write dt in Dutch?

When the stem ends in d and you add the -t for jij, u, hij, zij or het: hij wordt, zij vindt. Not with ik (ik word) and not when jij comes after the verb (word jij?).

Why is it huis but huizen?

Dutch words do not end in z or v: the z of huizen becomes s at the end of huis, and the v of brieven becomes f in brief.

Why are there two t's in katten?

The a of kat is short; to keep it short before the ending -en, the consonant is doubled: kat-ten.