Pronunciation: the six sounds that give you away

Dutch spelling is consistent — once you know the sounds, you can read any word aloud. These six are the ones English speakers never guess correctly.

• g / ch — goed, acht

  a scrape at the back of the throat

  Like clearing your throat. Softer in the south.

• ui — huis, uit

  no English equivalent

  Start at 'ow', slide toward 'uh'. Round your lips.

• ij / ei — mijn, klein

  identical to each other

  Roughly 'ay' sliding to 'ee'. Both spellings, one sound.

• eu — leuk, deur

  like French 'eu'

  Say 'ay' with tightly rounded lips.

• oe — boek, goed

  like English 'oo' in book

  Short and tight, not 'oh'.

• uu — muur, duur

  like German 'ü'

  Say 'ee' while rounding your lips.

Two more rules that fix whole categories of words at once. First: a final -n in verbs and plurals is usually dropped in speech. Werken sounds like 'werke'. Second: b and d at the end of a word go hard — heb sounds like 'hep', goed sounds like 'khoot'.

Double vowel = long sound. Single vowel in a closed syllable = short. maan (long) vs man (short). That one distinction changes meanings.