Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "geen" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce geen in Dutch?

geen is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɣeːn/. It means “no / not a / not any.” khayn — the scraping g, then a long "ay." It sounds nothing like English "green" or "gene."

khayn — the scraping g, then a long "ay." It sounds nothing like English "green" or "gene."

geen /ɣeːn/

It takes a beat more often than "niet" does, because "geen" replaces an article and so sits where a determiner would, picking up the noun phrase's initial prominence. In "ik heb geen auto," the melody rises across "geen AU-to" as a single unit.

Listen: geen

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Sound it out

g Sustained friction with the back of the tongue near the soft palate. This word is a good place to practise it, since nothing else in the word competes for attention.

ee Held at one tongue position for its full duration. The doubled letter marks that length, and shortening it would produce a different word entirely.

n Part of the root, so it is always pronounced — unlike the n of an infinitive ending, which vanishes.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik heb geen auto.

I don't have a car.

Listen: Ik heb geen auto.

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"Ik heb geen auto" shows the division of labour in Dutch negation: since "auto" is a noun with no definite article, you negate it with "geen" rather than saying "ik heb niet een auto." That construction would sound broken to a Dutch ear, so this sentence is really a grammar lesson wearing a vocabulary disguise.

Where English speakers slip

The g becomes an English hard g almost by reflex, producing "gain" or "geen" as in "between." It is a fricative — air scraping past the soft palate. Beyond the sound, the choice between "geen" and "niet" is the perennial beginner error: if you are negating a noun that would otherwise take "een" or no article, you need "geen."