Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het ijs" in Dutch?

ut AYSS — the ij diphthong with no consonant in front, then a clean hiss.

het ijs /ət ˈɛis/

One beat that is almost entirely vowel. With no opening consonant and only a hiss at the end, the diphthong is more exposed here than in any other word in the course — which makes it an excellent diagnostic for your ij.

Listen: het ijs

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Sound it out

ij Rising from around the vowel of "met" toward "ee," and it opens the word with nothing before it — so start cleanly on the vowel rather than adding a glottal catch.

s A clean voiceless hiss closing the word. Because the diphthong precedes it directly, the s is the only consonant in the whole word.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik eet graag ijs.

I like eating ice cream.

Listen: Ik eet graag ijs.

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"Ik eet graag ijs" uses the "graag" construction for liking to do something, with no separate verb for "like." The word means both ice and ice cream, and only context tells you which — here "eten" makes it the dessert.

Where English speakers slip

Reading ij as "eye" gives "ice," which is both the wrong Dutch sound and a real English word — doubly tempting. The Dutch diphthong starts mid-front and travels a shorter distance. Since the vowel is completely exposed, this is the word where getting it wrong is most obvious to a native ear.