Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "echt" in Dutch?

ekht — short "eh," then the harsh Dutch ch running straight into a t.

echt /ɛxt/

One dense beat with more consonant than vowel. As an intensifier it usually shares prominence with what it modifies, but Dutch speakers do stress it hard for emphasis — "dat is ECHT waar" puts real weight on it, and the fricative carries that weight well.

Listen: echt

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Sound it out

e Short and lax, the vowel of "bet," cut off immediately by the fricative.

cht Scrape, then stop, both inside one syllable. No vowel may be inserted, and the fricative must not harden.

Hear it in a sentence

Je bent echt aardig.

You're really kind.

Listen: Je bent echt aardig.

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"Je bent echt aardig" places the intensifier before the adjective, as English does with "really." The adjective ends in the -ig suffix, so the sentence contains the velar fricative twice within three words — once in a cluster, once as a suffix.

Where English speakers slip

The ch becomes a k, giving "ekt," or gets skipped entirely, giving "et." It is a sustained scrape and it needs to be there. Learners also insert a helping vowel, producing "e-khut," which adds a syllable. Practising "echt" alongside "acht" and "dicht" builds the same cluster with three different vowels.