Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "duur" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce duur in Dutch?

duur is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dyr/. It means “expensive.” A single rounded front vowel between d and r — say "dear" but with the lips pursed as if for "oo."

A single rounded front vowel between d and r — say "dear" but with the lips pursed as if for "oo."

duur /dyr/

One beat dominated by a vowel English does not possess, which means the whole word stands or falls on that sound. Inflected as "dure," the spelling drops one u because the syllable opens — the vowel is identical, only the orthography adjusts.

Listen: duur

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Sound it out

d A voiced stop made a shade further forward than the English d, with the tongue on the teeth themselves rather than the ridge behind them.

uu The long close front rounded vowel — French "tu," German "über." Get there by holding an "ee," freezing the tongue, and rounding the lips. English has no vowel in this position at all.

r A light tap or soft back scrape once the vowel is complete. It must not swallow the rounding.

Hear it in a sentence

Dit restaurant is duur.

This restaurant is expensive.

Listen: Dit restaurant is duur.

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"Dit restaurant is duur" ends on the bare adjective, so the rounded vowel is the last thing heard. "Restaurant" beforehand is a French loan with final-syllable stress, giving the sentence a rising shape before it settles on the short, sharp adjective.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers substitute "oo" and say "door," or they substitute "ee" and say "deer." The Dutch vowel is both at once: the tongue of "ee" with the lips of "oo." Practise switching between "dier" (animal) and "duur" — same tongue position, lips rounded or not, and the contrast makes the target obvious.