Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de lente" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de lente in Dutch?

de lente is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də ˈlɛntə/. It means “spring.” duh LEN-tuh — bright l, short "eh," and a schwa at the end.

duh LEN-tuh — bright l, short "eh," and a schwa at the end.

de lente /də ˈlɛntə/

Front-stressed with a bare schwa ending, the standard native two-syllable shape. Of the four season names this is the only one ending in a schwa, which gives it a softer landing than the consonant-final "winter" and "herfst."

Listen: de lente

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Sound it out

l Tongue tip forward and the tongue body low, giving a light l rather than the hollow English one.

e A relaxed, low front vowel, in and out quickly before the cluster arrives.

nt Both consonants clearly articulated, with the t released quietly and never softened toward a d.

e A low, relaxed front vowel that lasts no longer than it takes to get to the consonants behind it.

Hear it in a sentence

In de lente bloeien de bloemen.

In spring the flowers bloom.

Listen: In de lente bloeien de bloemen.

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"In de lente bloeien de bloemen" opens with a time phrase and inverts, and "bloeien" contains the "oei" sequence — "oo" gliding to "ee." That plus the "oe" of "bloemen" makes the sentence a small tour of Dutch rounded vowels.

Where English speakers slip

Learners give the final e a real vowel, producing "LEN-tay," when it should be a colourless schwa. The l also gets darkened on the English model. And there is a vocabulary point: "lente" is spring the season, while "bron" is a spring of water — the two English senses split into different Dutch words.