Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het hotel" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce het hotel in Dutch?

het hotel is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ət ɦoːˈtɛl/. It means “hotel.” ut hoh-TEL — soft voiced h, and the stress firmly on the second syllable.

ut hoh-TEL — soft voiced h, and the stress firmly on the second syllable.

het hotel /ət ɦoːˈtɛl/

End-stressed, following the French original. The unstressed first syllable keeps a full long vowel rather than reducing, which is typical of these borrowings and gives the word a fuller sound than the English equivalent.

Listen: het hotel

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Sound it out

h Voiced and gentle, with the vocal cords already humming — nothing like the sharp English h in "hotel."

o A long steady "oh," unstressed but keeping its full quality rather than reducing to a schwa.

t A quiet stop opening the stressed syllable, released without aspiration.

el Short "eh" plus a bright l, carrying the primary stress. Keep the l forward rather than darkening it as English does.

Hear it in a sentence

Het hotel ligt bij het strand.

The hotel is near the beach.

Listen: Het hotel ligt bij het strand.

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"Het hotel ligt bij het strand" uses "liggen" as the posture verb for a building's location — English simply says "is." The reduced article appears twice, so the sentence has only two real beats, on TEL and STRAND.

Where English speakers slip

English "hotel" reduces its first vowel to "huh-" and aspirates the h; Dutch keeps a full "oh" and a soft voiced h. The stress placement happens to match, which makes this easier than most borrowings — the work is in the vowel quality and the h.