Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de hond" in Dutch?

duh HONT — soft h, a short rounded o, and the final d said as a t.

de hond /də ˈɦɔnt/

The plural "honden" splits the closing cluster across the syllable boundary and reveals the voiced d, so singular and plural end quite differently despite sharing a stressed vowel.

Listen: de hond

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

h A voiced, breathy start with the throat already humming — nothing like the sharp English h in "hound."

o Purse the lips slightly and keep it brief. British "font" is the reference point; the American version unrounds it.

nd Say both; the d surfaces as a t at the end of the word. "Honden" restores it, which is the standard way to check a devoiced Dutch consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

De hond blaft hard.

The dog barks loudly.

Listen: De hond blaft hard.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"De hond blaft hard" uses "hard" as an adverb with no ending, since Dutch adverbs take the bare adjective form. That word also ends in a devoiced t, so the sentence has two devoicing sites in four words.

Where English speakers slip

Written d, spoken t — but the spelling wins for most beginners. Learners also unround the vowel toward the American "ah" and over-aspirate the h. English "hound" is a genuine cousin but shares almost none of these features, so the cognate is more hindrance than help.