The pattern
North of the big rivers, g and ch are one sound with two spellings: a rasp at the back of your mouth.
- g and ch sound the same: goed, dag, lachen, nacht.
- In the south and in Flanders, the sound is softer and smoother: the famous zachte g (soft g). Both versions are correct; see Dutch in the Netherlands and in Flanders.
- sch is s plus that sound: school, schoon, schrijven.
- The ending -isch sounds like ies: praktisch, logisch. With an extra e, it sounds like iese: praktische.
- ng is a different sound, as in English sing: lang, zingen.
- Some loanwords (words borrowed from other languages) keep their foreign sound: the second g in garage sounds like the s in English pleasure, and the ch in chef and chocola sounds like English sh.
Examples
| Goedemorgen, Fatima! | Good morning, Fatima! |
| Het is acht uur. | It is eight o'clock. |
| Bas zegt nee. | Bas says no. |
| Dat is echt waar. | That is really true. |
| Het regent vandaag. | It is raining today. |
| Priya fietst naar school. | Priya cycles to school. |
| Mei schrijft een kaart voor Daan. | Mei is writing a card for Daan. |
| Dat is heel praktisch. | That is very practical. |
| Ahmed heeft een elektrische fiets. | Ahmed has an electric bike. |
| Lotte zet de auto in de garage. | Lotte puts the car in the garage. |
Why it works this way
Long ago, g and ch were two sounds: g had your voice humming in it, ch was just air. Many southern speakers still keep a little of that difference. In the north the two merged, but the spelling stayed. Good news for you: fewer sounds to learn.
The ending -isch has its own story. Older spellings such as visch became vis after the final consonant sound had disappeared from speech. The ending -isch in adjectives (describing words) like praktisch has a different history: it came in through borrowed words, and Dutch kept the spelling but pronounces it like ies. Loanwords such as garage and chocola simply arrived with their French sounds.
To make the sound, start to say k, but leave a tiny gap between the back of your tongue and the roof of your mouth, and let the air scrape through. Arabic kha, Spanish j as in jamón and German ch as in Bach are very close. Most English accents do not use this sound, so English speakers tend to say k or a hard g. German speakers mainly need to drop their hard g in goed and their sh in sch.
Remember: one sound, two outfits. If you can say acht, you can already say gaan.
Watch out
Falschskool
Richtigschool
sch is s plus the rasp, never sk or sh
FalschHij zecht nee.
RichtigHij zegt nee.
the verb is zeggen, so the g stays
FalschDat is fantasties!
RichtigDat is fantastisch!
you hear ies, but you write isch
Falscheen praktiese tas
Richtigeen praktische tas
it sounds like iese, but you still write isch
Quick check
- Fix the spelling: Joris zecht hallo.
- Fix the spelling: Dat is typies Nederlands.
- In garage, which g sounds like the s in English pleasure: the first or the second?
- Which word starts with s plus the rasp: school, sjaal or snel?
Antworten zeigen
- Joris zegt hallo. The verb is zeggen, so you write g.
- Dat is typisch Nederlands. You hear ies, but you write isch.
- The second. The first g is the normal Dutch rasp.
- school. Sjaal starts with sh, and snel has no rasp at all.
Use it today
Say Goedemorgen or Goedemiddag to a neighbour or colleague today, with a full, confident rasp. Then read three words with g, ch or sch aloud from signs at the station or in the supermarket.