Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het kantoor" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce het kantoor in Dutch?

het kantoor is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ət kɑnˈtoːr/. It means “office.” ut kan-TOHR — stress on the second syllable, with a long flat "oh."

ut kan-TOHR — stress on the second syllable, with a long flat "oh."

het kantoor /ət kɑnˈtoːr/

The accent falls on the second syllable, which marks this out as a borrowing — from French "comptoir" by way of trade. Dutch keeps the source language's end-stress in this whole family, alongside kantine, kanaal and kapitein.

Listen: het kantoor

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Sound it out

kan- An unstressed opening: unaspirated k, short open "ah," and n. The whole syllable is quick and colourless compared with what follows.

t Unaspirated, opening the stressed syllable with no burst of air.

oo Long and pure, carrying the primary stress. Hold one tongue position rather than gliding toward "oo" at the end.

r A light closing tap or scrape, arriving only once the long vowel has finished.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik werk elke dag op kantoor.

I work at the office every day.

Listen: Ik werk elke dag op kantoor.

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"Ik werk elke dag op kantoor" drops the article, as Dutch does in the fixed expression "op kantoor" for being at work. Note that "op" is the preposition here, not "in" — a collocation that has to be learned rather than reasoned out.

Where English speakers slip

Front-stressing to "KAN-toor" is the standard error and it obscures the word's borrowed character. Learners also glide the long "oh" and add an American r that shortens it. Say the vowel flat and full, then flick the r at the very end.