Dutch Grammar
Dutch Grammar
Dutch is easier to read once you learn a few fixed sound patterns. Focus first on ui, ij/ei, ou/au, and the Dutch throat sound g/ch. You do not need a perfect accent now, but you should aim for consistent, clear pronunciation.
| Pattern | How it sounds (simple) | Example | Practice tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ui | rounded ow (no exact English match) | luisteren to listen | Round lips forward and keep the sound short. |
| ij / ei | like eye in English | blijven to stay | Keep one smooth vowel, not two separate syllables. |
| ou / au | like ow in "house" | houden to keep | Start open, then close quickly to finish the diphthong. |
| g / ch | throat/friction sound (soft in some regions) | goed good graag gladly nacht night | Use airflow in throat; avoid a hard English "g". |
| sch | usually "s" + Dutch ch | school school schoenen shoes | Split it mentally first: s + ch. |
These words appear in many lessons. Repeat each 2-3 times with the audio and keep a steady rhythm.
| Word | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| jij | you (informal) | |
| u | you (formal) | |
| wij | we | |
| jullie | you (plural) | |
| zij | she / they |
Dutch spelling is far more consistent than English spelling, but that consistency hides a trap: several of its letter combinations point to sounds that simply do not exist in English, so your mouth has never had to make them before. A native speaker was not taught a rule for ui or g/ch — they absorbed these as babies, the same way you absorbed the vowel in "cat" long before you knew what a vowel was.
The fastest fix is to stop treating Dutch letters as a re-spelling of English sounds you already know. Instead, listen before you try to say anything: play the audio for a word like huis or nacht several times and notice where in your mouth or throat the sound happens. Then copy that mouth position, not the spelling — round your lips forward for ui, and let air hiss through the back of your throat for g/ch, even if it feels exaggerated at first.
English spelling almost never maps one-to-one onto Dutch sounds, so learners default to whichever English sound the letters look closest to. These four slips are the ones that come up most at A0–A1 — check your own pronunciation against each one.
✗ ij / ei said like English "ee"
✓ ij / ei said like English "eye"
Dutch ij / ei glides from an open vowel to a closer one, just like the vowel in English "eye" — say blijven, kijken, and tijd with that glide, not as a flat "ee".
✗ g / ch said like a hard English "g"
✓ g / ch as a throat/friction sound
English "g" blocks the air and releases it, but Dutch g / ch keeps the air moving through the throat, as in goed, graag, and nacht.
✗ ui said like "oo" or "you"
✓ ui as a short rounded sound with lips pushed forward
There is no real English match for ui, so reaching for "oo" or "you" changes the word — round your lips forward and keep it short in huis, tuin, and luisteren.
✗ sch said like English "sh"
✓ sch = s + the Dutch ch sound, said in sequence
Dutch never blends sch into one "sh" sound — it stays two sounds said back-to-back, s then ch, as in school and schoenen.
Listen to the model, record yourself, then play it back to compare.
| Sound | Word | Meaning | Model | Your Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ui | luisteren | to listen |
Not recorded yet.
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| ui | huis | house |
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| ui | tuin | garden |
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| ui | fruit | fruit |
Not recorded yet.
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| ij/ei | blijven | to stay |
Not recorded yet.
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| ij/ei | kijken | to look |
Not recorded yet.
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| ij/ei | reizen | to travel |
Not recorded yet.
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| ij/ei | tijd | time |
Not recorded yet.
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| ou/au | houden | to keep |
Not recorded yet.
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| ou/au | koud | cold |
Not recorded yet.
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| ou/au | vrouw | woman |
Not recorded yet.
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| ou/au | blauw | blue |
Not recorded yet.
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| g/ch | goed | good |
Not recorded yet.
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| g/ch | graag | gladly |
Not recorded yet.
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| g/ch | nacht | night |
Not recorded yet.
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| sch | school | school |
Not recorded yet.
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| sch | schoenen | shoes |
Not recorded yet.
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