The pattern
Read each pair as one single sound. Two pairs share a sound (ij and ei, ou and au); the other four each have their own.
- ij and ei: between English eye and day, in everyday speech usually close to eye: tijd (time), klein (small).
- ou and au: close to the ow in now: oud (old), blauw (blue).
- oe: the oo in food, a bit shorter: goed (good), boek (book).
- ie: the ee in see, also shorter: niet (not). So niet never sounds like night.
- eu: no English twin. Say the vowel of twee (two), keep your tongue still and round your lips: neus (nose), leuk (nice). German speakers: this is not the oy of German eu.
- ui: the famous one. Start from the vowel in English hut, round your lips and let the sound close a little at the end: huis (house), uit (out).
- Before r, the sounds of ie, oe and eu stretch: bier (beer), boer (farmer), deur (door).
Examples
| Het huis van Sanne is groot. | Sanne's house is big. |
| Mei heeft een rode neus. | Mei has a red nose. |
| De trein is op tijd. | The train is on time. |
| Daan woont in een klein dorp. | Daan lives in a small village. |
| Mijn fiets is oud. | My bike is old. |
| De lucht is grijs, niet blauw. | The sky is grey, not blue. |
| Het gaat goed met Joris. | Joris is doing well. |
| Yara komt vandaag niet. | Yara isn't coming today. |
| Ik zie de zee. | I see the sea. |
Why it works this way
Dutch spelling remembers how people spoke centuries ago. Back then ij and ei were different sounds, and so were ou and au. In the standard language they merged, but the spelling stayed. English has the same headache with see and sea, so you already know the cure: learn the spelling together with the word.
A useful tendency, not a rule: if the English cousin of a word has an i that sounds like eye, the Dutch word usually has ij: mijn (my, related to English mine), wijn (wine), ijs (ice). On the phone you will also hear met een lange ij (with a long ij) or met een korte ei (with a short ei) when people spell a name. That describes the shape of the letters, not the sound.
Remember: two letters, one sound. Your mouth makes one vowel; the spelling simply needs two letters to write it down.
Watch out
FalschDat is mein fiets.
RichtigDat is mijn fiets.
a German habit; this word has ij
FalschDe lucht is blouw.
RichtigDe lucht is blauw.
same sound as ou, but this colour uses au
FalschIk zee de trein.
RichtigIk zie de trein.
the ee of English see is written ie; zee means sea
FalschIk ben mu.
RichtigIk ben moe.
Dutch u is another sound; the oo of food is written oe
Quick check
- Fill in ij or ei: Ik heb vandaag geen t...d.
- Fill in ou or au: Het is k...d buiten.
- Fill in ui or eu: Ahmed is niet th...s.
- Fix the sentence: Priya komt neet.
Antworten zeigen
- tijd (this word uses ij; the sound alone cannot tell you)
- koud (it rhymes with oud; kaud is not a word)
- thuis (the same ui as in huis)
- Priya komt niet. (the ee sound of see is written ie in Dutch)
Use it today
On your next trip to the station or the supermarket, find one word on a sign for each of the eight pairs and say it out loud, rounding your lips for eu and ui. Start with uitgang (exit): every station has one.