Learn the Dutch Alphabet

Het alfabet

Learn to read the Dutch Alphabet (Het alfabet): all 26 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
A a	A	a	short a like 'ah' cut short; long aa as in father
B b	Bee	b	b as in ball; sounds like p at the end of a word
C c	Cee	c	k before a, o, u; s before e, i (mostly in loanwords)
D d	Dee	d	d as in dog; sounds like t at the end of a word
E e	Ee	e	short e as in bed; long ee like 'ay' without the glide; unstressed e is a schwa (uh)
F f	Ef	f	f as in fish
G g	Gee	g	a throaty, scraping sound from the back of the throat, like Scottish 'loch'; never the g in go
H h	Ha	h	h as in hat, voiced and breathy
I i	I	i	short i as in bit; long ie as in machine
J j	Jee	j	like English y in yes
K k	Ka	k	k as in kite, without the puff of air
L l	El	l	l as in lamp
M m	Em	m	m as in mother
N n	En	n	n as in no; final -en is often reduced to just a schwa
O o	O	o	short o as in hot; long oo like 'oh'
P p	Pee	p	p as in pen, without the puff of air
Q q	Ku	q	k; almost always followed by u, as in English qu
R r	Er	r	a rolled or throaty r (varies by region), never silent
S s	Es	s	s as in sun, always sharp, never like z
T t	Tee	t	t as in top, without the puff of air
U u	U	u	short u like 'uh' with rounded lips; long uu like French u or German ü
V v	Vee	v	between v and f; often sounds close to f, especially in the north
W w	Wee	w	between English v and w: touch your lower lip lightly to your top teeth
X x	Iks	x	ks as in box
Y y	Griekse ij	y	like ie in loanwords ('baby'), or like y in yes ('yoghurt')
Z z	Zet	z	z as in zoo, buzzing; often closer to s in the north

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