The Dutch Alphabet
48 words · Alphabet · Letters · Spelling
The Dutch alphabet has the same 26 letters as English, but the letter names and sounds are different. Dutch also frequently uses the digraph ij, which is sometimes considered the 27th letter.
The Alphabet
| Dutch | Name | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | aa | /aː/ | appel (apple) |
| B b | bee | /beː/ | boek (book) |
| C c | cee | /seː/ | café (café) |
| D d | dee | /deː/ | dag (day) |
| E e | ee | /eː/ | eten (to eat) |
| F f | ef | /ɛf/ | fiets (bicycle) |
| G g | gee | /ɣeː/ | goed (good) |
| H h | ha | /ɦaː/ | huis (house) |
| I i | ie | /iː/ | ik (I) |
| J j | jee | /jeː/ | ja (yes) |
| K k | ka | /kaː/ | kat (cat) |
| L l | el | /ɛl/ | land (land) |
| M m | em | /ɛm/ | moeder (mother) |
| N n | en | /ɛn/ | naam (name) |
| O o | oo | /oː/ | oog (eye) |
| P p | pee | /peː/ | park (park) |
| Q q | kuu | /kyː/ | quiz (quiz) |
| R r | er | /ɛr/ | rood (red) |
| S s | es | /ɛs/ | school (school) |
| T t | tee | /teː/ | tafel (table) |
| U u | uu | /yː/ | uur (hour) |
| V v | vee | /veː/ | vader (father) |
| W w | wee | /ʋeː/ | water (water) |
| X x | iks | /ɪks/ | taxi (taxi) |
| Y y | y (Griekse ij) | /ɛi/ | yoga (yoga) |
| Z z | zet | /zɛt/ | zon (sun) |
| IJ ij | ij | /ɛi/ | ijs (ice cream) |
Spelling Out Loud
When Dutch people spell words, they use the letter names above. Practice spelling these common words:
| Dutch | Spelling |
|---|---|
| huis | ha - uu - ie - es |
| boek | bee - oo - ee - ka |
| fiets | ef - ie - ee - tee - es |
| school | es - cee - ha - oo - oo - el |
| water | wee - aa - tee - ee - er |
| naam | en - aa - aa - em |
IJ — The “27th Letter”
The digraph ij is special in Dutch:
- It represents the diphthong /ɛi/ (same sound as ei)
- When capitalizing, both letters are uppercase: IJsberg, not
Ijsberg - In handwriting, some Dutch people write it as a single character (like a “y” with dots)
- It sorts between x and z in some dictionaries, though modern practice sorts i and j separately
Words with ij:
Common Letter Combinations
| Letters | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aa | /aː/ (long a) | maan (moon) |
| ee | /eː/ (long e) | been (leg) |
| oo | /oː/ (long o) | boon (bean) |
| uu | /yː/ (long u) | muur (wall) |
| ie | /iː/ (long i) | niet (not) |
| oe | /uː/ (oo sound) | boek (book) |
| eu | /øː/ | deur (door) |
| ui | /œy/ | huis (house) |
| ou / au | /ɑu/ | oud (old) |
| ei / ij | /ɛi/ | trein (train) |
| ch | /x/ (guttural) | nacht (night) |
| sch | /sx/ | school (school) |
| ng | /ŋ/ | lang (long) |
| nk | /ŋk/ | denken (to think) |
| tj | /tʲ/ | katje (kitten) |