Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de jas" in Dutch?

duh YAHS — the j is a y-sound, then an open back "ah" and a clean hiss.

de jas /də ˈjɑs/

It is the j at the front that gives this word its character rather than any rhythmic feature. Hearing that glide correctly matters more than anything a three-sound noun can teach about stress.

Listen: de jas

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Sound it out

j The y of "yes." Dutch never gives this letter the affricate value English does, so the word opens like "yacht," not like "jazz."

a Open and back, and kept brief by the s that closes the syllable.

s A clean hiss to finish. The plural "jassen" doubles it in spelling for the usual reason — to keep the vowel short.

Hear it in a sentence

Doe je jas aan, het is koud.

Put on your jacket, it's cold.

Listen: Doe je jas aan, het is koud.

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"Doe je jas aan, het is koud" splits the separable verb "aandoen," stranding "aan" after the object. The two clauses are joined by a comma with no conjunction, which Dutch permits more freely than English does.

Where English speakers slip

The English j is the reflex error, turning the word into "jazz" without the second z. It is a y-glide. That single fact governs every j in Dutch — jaar, jij, jong, jurk, jullie — so fixing it here pays dividends across the whole vocabulary.