---
title: "ui, eu, ij, ei, ou, au, oe, ie"
level: A1
chapter: "Sounds and spelling"
canonical: https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/vowel-combinations
updated: 2026-10-08
author: Dutch Fluency
license: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
---

# ui, eu, ij, ei, ou, au, oe, ie

Each of these letter pairs is one sound, not two: a vowel combination, meaning two vowel letters that work as a team. The pairs _ij_ and _ei_ sound the same, and so do _ou_ and _au_. The pair _oe_ sounds like the oo in English food and _ie_ like the ee in see, while _eu_ and _ui_ are new sounds you make by rounding your lips.

## 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](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/alphabet). 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

- Not: _Dat is mein fiets._ Say: _Dat is mijn fiets._ (a German habit; this word has _ij_)
- Not: _De lucht is blouw._ Say: _De lucht is blauw._ (same sound as _ou_, but this colour uses _au_)
- Not: _Ik zee de trein._ Say: _Ik zie de trein._ (the ee of English see is written _ie_; _zee_ means sea)
- Not: _Ik ben mu._ Say: _Ik ben moe._ (Dutch _u_ is another sound; the oo of food is written _oe_)

## Quick check

1. Fill in _ij_ or _ei_: _Ik heb vandaag geen t...d._
2. Fill in _ou_ or _au_: _Het is k...d buiten._
3. Fill in _ui_ or _eu_: _Ahmed is niet th...s._
4. Fix the sentence: _Priya komt neet._

## Answers

1. _tijd_ (this word uses _ij_; the sound alone cannot tell you)
2. _koud_ (it rhymes with _oud_; _kaud_ is not a word)
3. _thuis_ (the same _ui_ as in _huis_)
4. _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.

## Questions learners ask

**How do you pronounce ui in Dutch?**

Start from the vowel in English hut, round your lips and let the sound close a little at the end, as in huis (house) and uit (out). There is no exact English equivalent, so practise it slowly with common words.

**Is there a difference between ij and ei in Dutch?**

No, in standard Dutch ij and ei sound exactly the same, as in tijd and klein. The difference is only in spelling, so you learn which one a word uses together with the word.

**How do you pronounce eu in Dutch?**

Say the vowel of the Dutch word twee, keep your tongue still and round your lips, as in neus (nose) and leuk (nice). It is not the oy sound of German eu.

From the Dutch Fluency Grammar: https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.