The Dutch Alphabet

The Dutch alphabet has 26 letters, the same as English, but many sound different. The pair ij is so common that it is sometimes treated as a letter of its own. Tap any letter to hear its name in Dutch.

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All 26 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name in Dutch.

a say “ah” long (aa): a as in “father”; short (a): a shorter, deeper “ah”
bee say “bay” b as in “bed”
cee say “say” k before a, o, u; s before e, i (mostly in loanwords)
dee say “day” d as in “dog”; t at the end of a word
ee say “ay” long (ee): like “ay” in “say”; short: e as in “bed”; unstressed: a weak “uh”
ef f as in “fun”
gee say “khay” a rough throat sound, like ch in Scottish “loch” (softer in the south)
ha say “hah” h as in “hat”
ie say “ee” short: i as in “bit”; long (ie): ee as in “see”
J j jee say “yay” y as in “yes”
ka say “kah” k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
el l as in “let”
em m as in “man”
en n as in “no”
oo say “oh” long (oo): like “oh”, without the glide; short: o as in “lot”
pee say “pay” p as in “spin” (no puff of air)
kuu say “kü” k (always in qu = kw)
er say “air” a rolled or throaty r, depending on the region; soft at the end of a word
es s as in “sun”
tee say “tay” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
uu say “ü” long (uu): like German ü; short: like the u in “hurt”, without the r
vee say “vay” between f and v, often close to f (vier ≈ “feer”)
wee say “way” v said with both lips, between English v and w
iks ks as in “box”
i-grec say “ee-GREK” ee as in “see” in loanwords; often written for ij
zet z as in “zoo”, often softer, close to s

6 letters that sound different for English speakers

Not “g”: a rough throat sound, like ch in “loch” goed · good
Sounds like the y in “yes” het jaar · year
Often close to f: vier = “feer” vier · four
Between v and w, said with both lips de week · week
Not “oo” (that is oe): uu is like German ü het uur · hour
Looks like i + j: one sound, like the ay in “say”, but more open vijf · five

ij, ui, eu, oe, g and other letter pairs

Letters	Example	Sound
ij · ei		The same sound: like “ay” in “say”, but starting more open
ui		No English equivalent: roughly “ow” said with rounded lips
eu		An “ay” with rounded lips, like German ö
oe		oo as in “food”
ie		ee as in “see”
ou · au		The same sound: ow as in “how”
g · ch		Both are the rough throat sound of Scottish “loch”
sch		s + the ch sound (“s-kh”), never “sh”

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.