Dutch uses the same 26 letters as English. What changes is the way a handful of them sound once they sit next to each other in a Dutch word.
Alphabet song. Listen: play the alfabet song
Press play above to hear the alphabet and the ABC-lied, the little children's song Dutch kids grow up singing:
_"A, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, wie doet er mee? Dit zijn de letters van het alfabet. Wie zingt er mee van a tot z?"_
Here is the alphabet written out in IPA, the international phonetic alphabet. Do not try to memorise this, just notice how different some letters sound.
[a] [be] [se] [de] [e] [ɛf] [ɣe] [ha] [i] [je] [ka] [ɛɫ] [ɛm] [ɛn] [o] [pe] [ky] [ɛɾ] [ɛs] [te] [y] [ve] [ʋe] [ɪks] [ɛi] [zɛt]
What to listen for
- g is guttural, not like the soft English g. This is the famous Dutch sound.
- w sits between English w and v.
- ij is a vowel digraph, pronounced [ɛi]. We will give it its own page next.
- u, ui and eu are the three sounds most learners wrestle with. Do not panic, you will meet them in context.
Ready? The next few pages walk through the sounds one family at a time.