Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de zoon" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de zoon in Dutch?

de zoon is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də ˈzoːn/. It means “son.” duh SOHN — barely-voiced z, a long flat "oh," and a firm n.

duh SOHN — barely-voiced z, a long flat "oh," and a firm n.

de zoon /də ˈzoːn/

One beat resting on its long vowel. The plural "zonen" drops an o in spelling as the syllable opens and adds a schwa — the vowel sound is unchanged, only the orthography adjusts, which is the pattern for every long-vowel Dutch noun.

Listen: de zoon

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Sound it out

z Given only a trace of voicing at the start of a word in northern Dutch, so English ears often hear a plain s.

oo Long pure "oh," doubled in spelling to mark length. Hold one tongue position — English "zone" glides toward "oo" at the end and Dutch does not.

n A firm final n with the tongue tip on the ridge, closing the vowel off cleanly.

Hear it in a sentence

Hij heeft een jonge zoon.

He has a young son.

Listen: Hij heeft een jonge zoon.

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"Hij heeft een jonge zoon" uses the inflected "jonge," where the ng stays a single nasal before the schwa. So the sentence contains one of the most common English-speaker errors right before the noun — resist inserting a g there.

Where English speakers slip

The English "son" has a short central vowel and offers no help; "zone" has the right general shape but glides. Dutch wants a long, steady "oh." Learners also over-buzz the z. And beware the near-neighbour "zon" (sun), which differs only in vowel length — a short o where this word has a long one.