I can hear whether a vowel is long or short, decide from the syllable whether to write one letter or two, and say u without English “oo” or “uh”.
Long and short vowels
Long and short vowels
The length of a vowel changes the word: de man means “man”, de maan means “moon”; de zon means “sun”, de zoon means “son”. There are five pairs: a — aa, e — ee, o — oo, u — uu, i — ie. Listen to the table below: a long sound is held, a short one is cut off.
Short a is deep in the mouth, a little toward “o”, never the a of “cat”: de man. Long ee and oo glide slightly in the Netherlands, close to English “day” and “go”: de peen, de zoon — never the ee of “see” or the oo of “moon”. u is not English “uh” or “oo”: push your lips forward and keep your tongue as for “ee”: de bus, het uur. How Dutch writes the oo of “food” is in lesson 3.
Common mistakes:
• NOT u as English “uh” or “oo” — in de bus, lips forward, tongue as for “ee”.
• NOT the a of “cat” — in de man the sound is deeper.
Five pairs: short and long
A long sound is written with two letters in a closed syllable; the next block explains why it's sometimes one.
| Sound | Short | Long |
|---|---|---|
| short [ɑ] · long [aː], as in “father” | de man — man | de maan — moon |
| short [ɛ], as in “bet” · long [eː], near “day” | de pen — pen | de peen — carrot |
| short [ɔ] · long [oː], near “go” | de zon — sun | de zoon — son |
| [ʏ] · [y]: lips forward, tongue as for “ee” | de bus — bus | het uur — hour |
| short [ɪ], as in “sit” · long [i], as in “see” | wil — (I) want | het wiel — wheel |
Lesson notes
Long and short vowels
The length of a vowel changes the word: de man means “man”, de maan means “moon”; de zon means “sun”, de zoon means “son”. There are five pairs: a — aa, e — ee, o — oo, u — uu, i — ie. Listen to the table below: a long sound is held, a short one is cut off.
Short a is deep in the mouth, a little toward “o”, never the a of “cat”: de man. Long ee and oo glide slightly in the Netherlands, close to English “day” and “go”: de peen, de zoon — never the ee of “see” or the oo of “moon”. u is not English “uh” or “oo”: push your lips forward and keep your tongue as for “ee”: de bus, het uur. How Dutch writes the oo of “food” is in lesson 3.
Common mistakes:
• NOT u as English “uh” or “oo” — in de bus, lips forward, tongue as for “ee”.
• NOT the a of “cat” — in de man the sound is deeper.
One letter or two: open and closed syllables
A word splits into syllables. An open syllable ends in a vowel: ma-nen (“moons”). In an open syllable a long sound is written with one letter: a in ma-nen — don't read it as short. A closed syllable ends in a consonant: maan. There a long sound is written with two letters: aa.
A short sound comes only in a closed syllable. If a vowel follows, the consonant doubles and closes the syllable: man — mannen (“men”). Compare: maan — manen (“moons”). A word never ends in a double consonant: man, not mann. The only combination that never doubles is ch, although the vowel before it is short: lachen (“to laugh”), not lachchen.
The long [i], the ee of “see”, is always written ie, in an open syllable too. Short i is one letter, in a closed syllable: wil.
Common mistakes:
• NOT maanen — the open syllable ma- has one letter: manen.
• NOT manen meaning “men” — the short a keeps the double consonant: mannen.