I can spell out my first and last name, say and write the numbers from zero to twenty, and give my phone number and address.
Hoe spel je dat? Letters and numbers
Hoe spel je dat? Letters and numbers
At an office, on a course, on the phone, you spell out names and numbers.
Letters have Dutch names (see the table). Traps for English speakers: g — “gee” [xeː], j — “jee” [jeː], i — “ie” [i], e — “ee” [eː], u — “uu” [y], w — “wee”, z — “zet”, and v — “vee” [veː]. English A sounds like Dutch E, English E like Dutch I, and English I like Dutch ij.
ij is dictated as one letter — “lange ij”, as in hij. The letter y is “Griekse ij” or “i-grec”, used in loanwords.
Dutch writes Russian names its own way: sh — sj (Natasja), zh — zj (Zjanna), ch — tsj (Vjatsjeslav), kh — ch (Chabarovsk), oo — oe (Ljoedmila), yu — joe (Joelia), ya — ja (Tanja). An English name keeps its spelling: spell it out with the Dutch letter names.
Numbers 0–20 are in the table. 13–19 are the number + tien, with changes: dertien, veertien, achttien; learn elf and twaalf separately.
één with the accent mark is the number “one”: één boek — one book. een without it means “a”: een boek — a book. Leaving out the mark still counts, but keep the meanings apart.
A phone number is written 06 12 34 56 78 and read digit by digit or in pairs. Wat is je telefoonnummer? Wat is je adres? — je here means “your”; the answer is Het is … .
Common mistakes:
• ×drietien → dertien; ×viertien → veertien;
• ×Ljudmila → Ljoedmila (Dutch writes this oo sound as oe).
Letter names for spelling out
Highlighted: the names that differ most from the English letter names — g, j, i, and also y and ij. The letter ij is dictated as one letter — lange ij.
| Letter | What it's called |
|---|---|
| a | aa |
| b | bee |
| c | cee |
| d | dee |
| e | ee |
| f | ef |
| g | gee |
| h | ha |
| i | ie |
| j | jee |
| k | ka |
| l | el |
| m | em |
| n | en |
| o | oo |
| p | pee |
| q | ku |
| r | er |
| s | es |
| t | tee |
| u | uu |
| v | vee |
| w | wee |
| x | iks |
| y | Griekse ij |
| z | zet |
| ij | lange ij |
Numbers from 0 to 20
13–19 are a number + tien, some with a change: dertien, veertien, achttien. Elf and twaalf are their own words.
| Figure | Word |
|---|---|
| 0 | nul |
| 1 | één |
| 2 | twee |
| 3 | drie |
| 4 | vier |
| 5 | vijf |
| 6 | zes |
| 7 | zeven |
| 8 | acht |
| 9 | negen |
| 10 | tien |
| 11 | elf |
| 12 | twaalf |
| 13 | dertien |
| 14 | veertien |
| 15 | vijftien |
| 16 | zestien |
| 17 | zeventien |
| 18 | achttien |
| 19 | negentien |
| 20 | twintig |
Lesson notes
Hoe spel je dat? Letters and numbers
At an office, on a course, on the phone, you spell out names and numbers.
Letters have Dutch names (see the table). Traps for English speakers: g — “gee” [xeː], j — “jee” [jeː], i — “ie” [i], e — “ee” [eː], u — “uu” [y], w — “wee”, z — “zet”, and v — “vee” [veː]. English A sounds like Dutch E, English E like Dutch I, and English I like Dutch ij.
ij is dictated as one letter — “lange ij”, as in hij. The letter y is “Griekse ij” or “i-grec”, used in loanwords.
Dutch writes Russian names its own way: sh — sj (Natasja), zh — zj (Zjanna), ch — tsj (Vjatsjeslav), kh — ch (Chabarovsk), oo — oe (Ljoedmila), yu — joe (Joelia), ya — ja (Tanja). An English name keeps its spelling: spell it out with the Dutch letter names.
Numbers 0–20 are in the table. 13–19 are the number + tien, with changes: dertien, veertien, achttien; learn elf and twaalf separately.
één with the accent mark is the number “one”: één boek — one book. een without it means “a”: een boek — a book. Leaving out the mark still counts, but keep the meanings apart.
A phone number is written 06 12 34 56 78 and read digit by digit or in pairs. Wat is je telefoonnummer? Wat is je adres? — je here means “your”; the answer is Het is … .
Common mistakes:
• ×drietien → dertien; ×viertien → veertien;
• ×Ljudmila → Ljoedmila (Dutch writes this oo sound as oe).