Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het glas" in Dutch?

ut KHLAHS — the harsh Dutch g into a bright l, an open back "ah," and a clean hiss.

het glas /ət ˈɣlɑs/

Two contrasting fricatives frame this beat. The plural "glazen" doubles the change — the s becomes a voiced z between vowels and the a lengthens as the syllable opens — so singular and plural share almost nothing but their consonant frame.

Listen: het glas

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Sound it out

gl Velar friction running straight into a bright forward l. The two are made at opposite ends of the mouth, which makes this a genuinely awkward onset.

a Open and back, kept brief by the s closing the syllable. English "glass" would front and flatten it.

s A clean hiss to close, contrasting with the velar friction that opened the word.

Hear it in a sentence

Een glas water, alsjeblieft.

A glass of water, please.

Listen: Een glas water, alsjeblieft.

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"Een glas water, alsjeblieft" uses no preposition between the measure word and the substance — Dutch simply juxtaposes them where English says "of." The politeness word at the end carries its own late stress.

Where English speakers slip

The English "glass" supplies a hard g and a flatter vowel. Dutch needs the velar scrape and an open back "ah." The gl- cluster also tempts learners to insert a schwa, giving "khuh-LAHS." Keep the friction running straight into the l without a break.