Dutch Alphabet at a Glance
- 26 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 21 consonants
- Spoken by approximately 24 million people as a mother tongue [1]
- Official language in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), and Suriname [1]
- Uses Latin script for writing [2]
- Features the distinctive IJ digraph (ij), often treated as a single letter
- Uses diacritics (é, è, ë, ï, ó, ö, ü) primarily in loanwords and proper names
Dutch Vowel Letters
The Dutch alphabet includes 5 basic vowels: a, e, i, o, u, which can appear as short or long sounds depending on context.
Dutch Vowels (Uppercase)
A
[ah]
E
[eh]
I
[ee]
O
[oh]
U
[ue]
Dutch Vowels (Lowercase)
a
[ah]
e
[eh]
i
[ee]
o
[oh]
u
[ue]
Dutch Consonant Letters
The Dutch alphabet contains 21 consonants. Notable features include the guttural g sound and the distinctive w pronunciation.
For example:
In the word "goed" (good), the g is pronounced with a guttural sound unique to Dutch, combining with vowels to create the characteristic Dutch pronunciation.
Dutch Consonants (Uppercase)
B
[beh]
C
[seh]
D
[deh]
F
[eff]
G
[guttural-h]
H
[hah]
J
[yeh]
K
[kah]
L
[ell]
M
[emm]
N
[enn]
P
[peh]
Q
[kuh]
R
[err]
S
[ess]
T
[teh]
V
[veh]
W
[weh]
X
[iks]
Y
[ey]
Z
[zett]
Dutch Consonants (Lowercase)
b
[beh]
c
[seh]
d
[deh]
f
[eff]
g
[guttural-h]
h
[hah]
j
[yeh]
k
[kah]
l
[ell]
m
[emm]
n
[enn]
p
[peh]
q
[kuh]
r
[err]
s
[ess]
t
[teh]
v
[veh]
w
[weh]
x
[iks]
y
[ey]
z
[zett]
Complete Dutch Alphabet
A
[ah]
B
[beh]
C
[seh]
D
[deh]
E
[eh]
F
[eff]
G
[gheh]
H
[hah]
I
[ih]
J
[yeh]
K
[kah]
L
[ell]
M
[emm]
N
[enn]
O
[oh]
P
[peh]
Q
[kuh]
R
[err]
S
[ess]
T
[teh]
U
[uh]
V
[veh]
W
[weh]
X
[iks]
Y
[ey]
Z
[zett]
Dutch Diacritics
Diacritics in Dutch are used primarily in loanwords and proper names.
Dutch Diacritics (Lowercase)
é
[ay]
è
[eh]
ë
[ay]
ï
[ee]
ó
[oh]
ö
[oh]
ü
[ue]
Dutch Diacritics (Uppercase)
É
È
Ë
Ï
Ó
Ö
Ü
The IJ Digraph
The IJ is a unique feature of Dutch, often treated as a single letter in alphabetization.
Dutch Digraph IJ
ij
[ay]
IJ
[ay]
ij
IJ
Dutch Numerals
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Punctuation and Special Characters
.
,
;
:
?
!
'
"
-
–
€
%
&
@
#
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
References:
- [1] Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union). "About the Dutch Language". Retrieved from https://taalunie.org/english-information
- [2] Unicode Consortium. "Unicode CLDR - Languages and Scripts". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/cldr/charts/latest/supplemental/languages_and_scripts.html
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