LingoDrop
Dutch · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "de melk" in Dutch?
duh MELK — short "eh," a bright l, and an unaspirated k. The l is the giveaway.
A single short beat with a consonant cluster closing it. Dutch uses this noun almost exclusively in the singular, since it is a mass noun — so unlike most nouns in this course, you will rarely meet a plural form to compare the rhythm against.
Listen: de melk
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Wij houden van koude melk.
We like cold milk.
Listen: Wij houden van koude melk.
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"Wij houden van koude melk" uses the full "houden" rather than the shortened "hou," because the subject is plural. The inflected "koude" restores the d that devoices to t in the bare form — a small demonstration tucked into the sentence.
Where English speakers slip
The English "milk" is close enough to be dangerous: it supplies a higher vowel and a heavily darkened l. Dutch wants "eh" and a bright l. That l is the more audible of the two errors, and fixing it improves "welke," "help" and "elk" at the same time.