Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "eerste" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce eerste in Dutch?

eerste is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈeːrstə/. It means “first.” AYR-stuh — long "ay" under the stress, plain s (not "sh"), and a schwa at the end.

AYR-stuh — long "ay" under the stress, plain s (not "sh"), and a schwa at the end.

eerste /ˈeːrstə/

One strong syllable and a weak tail. As an ordinal it behaves like an adjective, which is why it carries that -e ending and why it never loses it — "de eerste dag" and "het eerste boek" both keep it, unlike ordinary adjectives.

Listen: eerste

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Sound it out

ee Park the tongue mid-front and hold. This is the only full vowel in the word, so it has to be unmistakable.

r A light tap or soft scrape after the vowel. Do not let it colour the "ay" that precedes it.

st A clean hissing s into an unaspirated t. No "sht" — Dutch keeps the s sharp in every position, including inside a word.

e A final schwa, the neutral mouth position, closing the ordinal ending.

Hear it in a sentence

Het is mijn eerste dag.

It's my first day.

Listen: Het is mijn eerste dag.

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"Het is mijn eerste dag" places the ordinal between the possessive and the noun, exactly where English puts it. Note that "eerste" is irregular: most Dutch ordinals are formed with -de or -ste on the number, but "één" gives "eerste" rather than anything predictable.

Where English speakers slip

The r after the long vowel invites the American treatment, which merges the two into a single r-coloured sound and destroys the "ay." Keep them separate. German-influenced learners also palatalise the st into "sht," which never happens in Dutch. Finally, the ending is a schwa, not the "-uh" of a full vowel.