Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "buiten" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce buiten in Dutch?

buiten is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈbœytə(n)/. It means “outside.” BOW-tuh — but the ui is a rounded diphthong unlike anything in English, and the final n drops.

BOW-tuh — but the ui is a rounded diphthong unlike anything in English, and the final n drops.

buiten /ˈbœytə(n)/

The stressed syllable is dominated by a diphthong that needs time to travel. Rushing it is the commonest way learners flatten the vowel; give the first half its rounding before you start moving toward the glide.

Listen: buiten

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Sound it out

b Lips together, voice on, then a quiet release straight into the diphthong.

ui Begin with rounded lips and the tongue mid-front, near French "deux," then glide toward a loose "uh" while keeping the rounding. It only resembles English "ow" from the outside; the mouth is doing something quite different.

t A proper unaspirated stop between the vowels, never flapped into a d.

en The weak ending, reduced to a schwa with the n gone in ordinary speech — the word finishes on a breath.

Hear it in a sentence

De kinderen spelen buiten.

The children are playing outside.

Listen: De kinderen spelen buiten.

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"De kinderen spelen buiten" ends with the adverb, where Dutch normally puts place information. "Kinderen" beforehand is a three-syllable plural with two weak endings, so the sentence stacks up unstressed syllables before landing on the diphthong.

Where English speakers slip

The ui gets read as the "ow" of "out," which begins wide open and unrounded. Dutch starts with the lips already pursed. Learners also flap the t between vowels, American-style, giving "BOW-dun" — Dutch keeps it a real t. And "buiten" means outside, while "buiten" as a preposition means except, so context matters.