Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de stad" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de stad in Dutch?

de stad is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də ˈstɑt/. It means “city.” duh STAHT — plain s (never "sht"), an open back "ah," and a final t.

duh STAHT — plain s (never "sht"), an open back "ah," and a final t.

de stad /də ˈstɑt/

A single beat, and the irregular plural is where the rhythm changes: "steden" has two syllables with the accent on the first, and a completely different stressed vowel. Singular and plural barely resemble each other.

Listen: de stad

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Sound it out

st A hissing s into an unaspirated t. German palatalises this at the start of a word into "sht"; Dutch keeps the s sharp, and this word is one of the clearest places to hear that difference.

a Open and back, cut short by the consonant that closes the syllable.

d Written d, said as t. The plural "steden" is irregular — the vowel changes as well — which hides the underlying d rather than revealing it.

Hear it in a sentence

Amsterdam is een mooie stad.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city.

Listen: Amsterdam is een mooie stad.

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"Amsterdam is een mooie stad" uses the inflected "mooie" before a de-word, so the diphthong flows into a schwa. The city name is stressed on its last syllable, am-ster-DAM, which is unusual and worth noting since English speakers front-stress it.

Where English speakers slip

German learners import "shtat"; English learners voice the final d and flatten the vowel. Neither belongs. The plural is the deeper trap: "stads" is not a word, and reaching for a regular ending here is one of the more common beginner errors in written Dutch.