Every distinct sound in Dutch, grouped by family. Tap the speaker on a phoneme to hear it pronounced inside its headline word, then tap any of the three demonstrator words below it to hear the same sound in a different context.
The Dutch alphabet
Tap any letter to hear how it is named when spelling words aloud in Dutch.
- 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
Vowels
Short vowels
-
/ɪ/
Letters: i
- vis
- dik
- lip
-
/ɛ/
Letters: e
- bed
- pen
- hek
-
/ɑ/
Letters: a
- kat
- man
- dak
-
/ɔ/
Letters: o
- pot
- bos
- rok
-
/ʏ/
Letters: u
- bus
- put
- kus
-
/ə/
Letters: e (unstressed, e.g. de, een, lopen, gesproken) — DISTINCT from /øː/ which is spelled "eu"
- de
- een
- lopen
Long vowels
-
/i/
Letters: ie
- bier
- dier
- zien
-
/eː/
Letters: ee
- been
- geel
- negen
-
/aː/
Letters: aa
- maan
- taal
- naam
-
/oː/
Letters: oo
- boom
- boot
- rood
-
/y/
Letters: uu
- muur
- buur
- duur
-
/øː/
Letters: eu
- neus
- keuken
- leuk
Diphthongs
-
/ɛi/
Letters: ij/ei
- tijd
- reis
- klein
-
/œy/
Letters: ui
- huis
- muis
- bruin
-
/ʌu/
Letters: ou/au
- oud
- huis
- koud
Consonants
Plosives
-
/p/
Letters: p
- pen
- pak
- peer
-
/b/
Letters: b
- bal
- boom
- boek
-
/t/
Letters: t
- tak
- tijd
- tafel
-
/d/
Letters: d
- dak
- doen
- dag
-
/k/
Letters: k
- kat
- kind
- koud
Fricatives
-
/f/
Letters: f
- fiets
- foto
- fijn
-
/v/
Letters: v
- vis
- vuur
- vader
-
/s/
Letters: s
- sap
- sok
- mes
-
/z/
Letters: z
- zon
- zee
- zout
-
/sx/
Letters: sch
- school
- schoen
- schip
-
/x/
Letters: ch/g
- lach
- dag
- goed
-
/h/
Letters: h
- huis
- hand
- hond
Nasals
-
/m/
Letters: m
- man
- maan
- moeder
-
/n/
Letters: n
- neus
- naam
- negen
-
/ŋ/
Letters: ng
- zingen
- lang
- jongen
Liquids
-
/l/
Letters: l
- lamp
- lang
- lepel
-
/r/
Letters: r
- rood
- raam
- brood
Glides
-
/j/
Letters: j
- jas
- jaar
- jong
-
/ʋ/
Letters: w
- water
- weten
- winter
Play SmartWords games
Six word games built around our real vocabulary — free in the browser, no install.
Open the game hub →-
Word Sling
Match the center word under time pressure and keep the combo alive.
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Word Gate
Fly through the correct gate before the speed ramps up.
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Word Ninja
Slice the goal-language words, avoid the main-language decoy, and chase the announced bonus target.
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Word Zip
Trace a single path across the board, hit each letter anchor in order, and fill every open cell.
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Word Oddity
Pick the word that doesn't belong from a topic-driven set — every tap reveals all four meanings and images so the round becomes a flash-card too.
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Word Memory
Flip and match goal-language words to their main-language meaning before your lives run out.
Play now →