Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de tafel" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de tafel in Dutch?

de tafel is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də ˈtaːfəl/. It means “table.” duh TAH-full — long open "aah" under the stress, and a weak second syllable ending in a bright l.

duh TAH-full — long open "aah" under the stress, and a weak second syllable ending in a bright l.

de tafel /də ˈtaːfəl/

Weight at the front with the second syllable reduced to almost nothing. The -el ending is a whole family in Dutch — winkel, sleutel, vogel — and it never takes weight, so recognising it lets you place the accent immediately.

Listen: de tafel

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Sound it out

t Unaspirated at the start, released without any burst of air.

a Long and open, stretched because the syllable ends right after it. It carries the whole beat.

f A plain voiceless f bridging into the weak syllable, made with the lower lip against the upper teeth.

el Schwa plus a bright l — an ending so weak the l can almost become the syllable itself. Keep the tongue tip forward rather than darkening it.

Hear it in a sentence

Zet de borden op tafel.

Put the plates on the table.

Listen: Zet de borden op tafel.

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"Zet de borden op tafel" drops the article before "tafel," which Dutch does in this fixed expression for setting a table. The imperative "zet" opens the sentence with no pronoun, as all Dutch imperatives do.

Where English speakers slip

The English "table" has a diphthong and a dark l, and both get imported. Dutch has a flat "aah" and a bright l. Learners also give the second syllable a real vowel, producing "TAH-fell," when it should be a schwa so faint the l almost carries the syllable alone.