Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de straat" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de straat in Dutch?

de straat is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də ˈstraːt/. It means “street.” duh STRAHT — plain s, a quick r, a long open "aah," and an unaspirated t.

duh STRAHT — plain s, a quick r, a long open "aah," and an unaspirated t.

de straat /də ˈstraːt/

One beat that takes a long time to arrive, because three consonants precede the vowel. Do not compress them in your hurry to reach the accent — each needs its moment, and rushing produces a mangled "shtraht."

Listen: de straat

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Sound it out

str Three consonants before the vowel: hissing s, unaspirated t, then a brief tap. English has this cluster in "street," but with an aspirated t and a curled r, so it needs rebuilding.

aa Wide open and generously held. It is the only vowel in the word and has to carry the whole beat after all that consonant work.

t A quiet final stop, released without a puff. The plural "straten" moves it between vowels and drops one a from the spelling.

Hear it in a sentence

Steek de straat voorzichtig over.

Cross the street carefully.

Listen: Steek de straat voorzichtig over.

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"Steek de straat voorzichtig over" splits the separable verb "oversteken," leaving "over" stranded at the end. The adverb "voorzichtig" sits between them with its unstressed -ig suffix, so the sentence's middle is a long stretch of weak syllables.

Where English speakers slip

The str- cluster attracts two errors at once: a German-style "shtr-" and an English-style curled r. Dutch wants a clean s, an unaspirated t, and the lightest possible flick. Learners also shorten the long vowel, which pulls the word toward a non-existent "strat."