Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de broek" in Dutch?

duh BROOK — a clean b, a brief r, the "oo" of boot, and a quiet k.

de broek /də ˈbruk/

Note that this noun is grammatically singular in Dutch where English says "trousers" — so "deze broek" is one garment, and the plural "broeken" means several.

Listen: de broek

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Sound it out

br A voiced b into a light flick. Keep the r short so it does not spread into the rounded vowel behind it.

oe A full "oo" with rounded lips and the tongue back — tenser and longer than the vowel in English "brook."

k Cut off quietly with no release puff, closing the word abruptly.

Hear it in a sentence

Deze broek zit lekker.

These pants are comfortable.

Listen: Deze broek zit lekker.

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"Deze broek zit lekker" uses "zitten" for how a garment fits, which English cannot mirror — a literal translation would be "these trousers sit nicely." It is one of the collocations you simply have to learn whole.

Where English speakers slip

The English "brook" is close but its vowel is lax and short where Dutch is tense and long. Learners also curl the r, which colours the vowel from the front. And the singular/plural mismatch with English "trousers" causes real agreement errors — Dutch treats it as one thing.