Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de taxi" in Dutch?

duh TAHK-see — a quiet t, an open back "ah," and a bright "ee" at the end.

de taxi /də ˈtɑksi/

The second syllable is unstressed but not reduced — it keeps a real "ee." That combination of front accent and a full final vowel is typical of the shorter international borrowings in Dutch.

Listen: de taxi

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Sound it out

t Released quietly with no puff of air, which is the standard treatment for every Dutch stop.

a Open and back, and brief. English "taxi" fronts and flattens this vowel considerably.

x Pronounced "ks," exactly as in English. It is one of the few letters Dutch borrows with its foreign value intact.

i A full bright "ee" at the end, not reduced to a schwa. Dutch keeps final vowels in loanwords much clearer than English does.

Hear it in a sentence

We nemen een taxi.

We're taking a taxi.

Listen: We nemen een taxi.

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"We nemen een taxi" uses "nemen" for taking transport, the same verb as "de trein nemen." The plural verb agrees with "we," and the whole sentence has one clear beat on TAX-.

Where English speakers slip

The English "taxi" is spelled identically and reduces its final vowel to a weak "-ee" while fronting the first. Dutch keeps both vowels clearly formed and opens the first toward the back. Aspirating the t is the third small giveaway.