Learn the Dutch Alphabet (with Audio)

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The Dutch alphabet contains the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, although the names of the letters are pronounced differently, which may cause confusion. 

Dutch is entirely phonetic, meaning that every letter has only one sound. So, once you learn the alphabet, you have laid a solid foundation to progress from. Just practice repeating the sound of each letter until you get the sound just like in the audio, and then try using it in words.

Letter	Pronunciation	Explanation	Examples
A a	ah	As in Amsterdam	Alaska, Maria, Panama
B b	Bay	As ‘b’ in boy, like “p” at the end of the word	Bravo, Alabama, Lab
C c	say	As ‘s’ before i, e and y in ‘say’; as ‘k’ in ‘cat’ before a, o, u and consonants	Canada, Cicilia
D d	day	As ‘d’ in ‘Dutch’ but as ‘t’ at the end of the word	David, Granada, Ted
E e	ay	As in “met”	Emma, Ted
F f	ef	As in “Fish”	Franco, Cafe, Ralf
G g	khay	As in the Scottish loch, or Spanish jota “khota”	Bach
H h	hah	As in “Hand” or “Holland”	Hi, Bahamas, Mitzvah
I i	ie	As in “Ink”	Iglo, mini
J j	yay	“y” as in “you” and not as “J” in “Job”	Yoga
K k	kah	As in “Kiss”	Kiwi, Okay, Mark
L l	el	As in “Language”	Laura, Claudia, Brazil
M m	em	As in “Moon”	Maria, Amsterdam
N n	en	As in “Netherlands”	New York, Anita, John
O o	oh	As in “Old”	Okay, Hotel, Paulo
P p	pay	As in “Poland”	Panama, Filipa, Top
Q q	kuuh	As in “Queen”	Qatar, Iraq
R r	err	As in “Russian”	Robert, Portugal, Qatar
S s	ess	As in “Swedish”	Sam, Eskimo, Paris
T t	tay	As in “Turkish”	Taiwan, Ontario, Janet
U u	uuh	As in “Put” and not like “But”	Uzbekistan, Lulu
V v	vay	As “f”, or as “v” in “voice”	Vatican, Bravo
W w	way	As in “Windmill”	Wow, Hawaii
X x	iks	As in “Complex”	Xray, Alexandria, Alex
Y y	eh-ee	As in “type” or “Yiddish”	Yoyo, okay
Z z	zet	As in “Zulu”	Zulu, Amazon, Jazz

The benefits of learning the Dutch alphabet.

As mentioned, the Dutch writing system uses the Alphabet originally based on the Latin alphabet and has twenty-six characters. 

The Dutch language is closely related to both German and English. Many language experts say the language is a combination of characteristics between German and English. 

A language’s alphabet is very important; it is the foundation of a language. So, it’s good for you to learn to master the alphabet. 

Once you know the alphabet, you start recognizing symbols and words, and this will encourage you because you see your own progress, and you feel motivated to learn more. Even just learning the basics of the dutch alphabet will help you to start recognizing simple Dutch words, and you will feel great!

Also, knowing the alphabet will help significantly with pronunciation because the individual letters will help you to discover the nuances and complexities that you are not always aware of when you’re simply listening to the words.

So go for it! Learn the alphabet so well that you’re able to recite it whenever, wherever you are. 

Do you want to learn, speak and read more Dutch?

Knowing the whole Dutch alphabet is a big step towards really learning the language. It will help you to read, get around and talk to and connect with Dutch people. People will appreciate that you are trying to speak Dutch. If you want to learn more common words and expressions, then please check out our other posts. 

If you are serious about learning Dutch and you want to master the basics in a short amount of time then check out our easy, fun and fast Online Dutch course. While it can take you a while to learn a language by searching things on google and using apps, – with this comprehensive language course, it will just take you a couple of weeks to see some real progress in your abilities. You will be surprised at how quickly you will be able to talk in Dutch and leave a good impression!