Dutch Language Essentials Cheatsheet

Foreign Languages / Dutch

March 03, 2025 00:51

dutch

grammar

language learning

phrases

vocabulary

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Pronunciation Guide

a	Short like in ‘cat’, long like in ‘father’.
e	Similar to ‘e’ in ‘bed’, sometimes silent at the end of words.
i	Like ‘ee’ in ‘see’.
o	Short like in ‘hot’, long like in ‘hope’.
u	Similar to the French ‘u’.
ui	A unique sound, try to pronounce ‘ow’ and ‘ee’ together.

g	A guttural sound, like clearing your throat (voiced).
ch	Similar to ‘g’, but unvoiced.
v	Pronounced as ‘f’.
w	Pronounced as ‘v’.
j	Pronounced like ‘y’ in ‘yes’.

ei/ij	Pronounced like ‘eye’.
au/ou	Pronounced like ‘ow’ in ‘cow’.
oe	Pronounced like ‘oo’ in ‘food’.
ie	Pronounced like ‘ee’ in ‘see’, but longer.

Dutch follows Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order in main clauses, but often uses Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order in subordinate clauses.

Example:
Ik eet een appel. (I eat an apple.) - SVO
Ik weet dat hij een appel eet. (I know that he an apple eats.) - SOV in subordinate clause.

de	The (common gender nouns). Example: de man (the man)
het	The (neuter gender nouns). Example: het huis (the house)
een	A/An. Example: een vrouw (a woman)

Plurals are often formed by adding -en, -s, or -eren to the singular noun. Some nouns have irregular plural forms.

Examples:
Huis (house) - Huizen (houses)
Auto (car) - Auto’s (cars)
Kind (child) - Kinderen (children)