Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de paraplu" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de paraplu in Dutch?

de paraplu is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də paːraːˈply/. It means “umbrella.” duh pah-rah-PLUU — three syllables with the beat at the end, on the rounded front vowel.

duh pah-rah-PLUU — three syllables with the beat at the end, on the rounded front vowel.

de paraplu /də paːraːˈply/

End-stressed, as the French original demands. The two opening syllables carry full vowels but no weight, which gives the word a distinctive running-start rhythm before the accent finally lands.

Listen: de paraplu

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Sound it out

pa- A quiet p and an open a, unstressed and quick. Dutch keeps the vowel full rather than reducing it to a schwa.

ra- A brief flick plus another open a. The two opening syllables are near-identical, which is what makes the final one stand out so sharply.

pl An unaspirated p into a bright forward l, opening the stressed syllable.

u The close front rounded vowel of French "tu" — lips pursed, tongue forward. Standing at the very end of the word, it is completely exposed.

Hear it in a sentence

Neem je paraplu mee, het gaat regenen.

Take your umbrella, it's going to rain.

Listen: Neem je paraplu mee, het gaat regenen.

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"Neem je paraplu mee, het gaat regenen" splits the separable verb "meenemen" and uses "gaan" plus an infinitive for the near future. The imperative "neem" opens with no pronoun, and "regenen" ends the sentence with its softened intervocalic g.

Where English speakers slip

Front-stressing to "PA-raplu" is the standard error. The final vowel is the harder problem: it becomes "ploo" or "plew" for almost every English speaker. Hold an "ee," freeze the tongue, and round the lips — and because the word ends there, any approximation is immediately audible.