Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het strand" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce het strand in Dutch?

het strand is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ət ˈstrɑnt/. It means “beach.” ut STRAHNT — plain s, a quick r, an open back "ah," and the final d said as a t.

ut STRAHNT — plain s, a quick r, an open back "ah," and the final d said as a t.

het strand /ət ˈstrɑnt/

One dense beat: three consonants before the vowel and two after it, with only a short vowel in the middle. The plural adds a schwa and splits the closing cluster, which is why "stranden" is easier to say than the singular.

Listen: het strand

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Sound it out

str Hissing s, quiet t, brief flick. English "strand" has the same three consonants but with an aspirated t and a curled r, so the cluster needs rebuilding rather than importing.

a Open and back, kept short by the cluster behind it. English fronts and flattens this vowel considerably.

nd Both consonants said, with the d devoicing to t at the end. The plural "stranden" restores the genuine d between vowels.

Hear it in a sentence

We liggen de hele dag op het strand.

We lie on the beach all day.

Listen: We liggen de hele dag op het strand.

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"We liggen de hele dag op het strand" uses "liggen" literally for people lying down and "de hele dag" for the whole day, with "hele" as the inflected form of "heel." The preposition is "op," not "aan" — a collocation worth memorising.

Where English speakers slip

The English "strand" is spelled identically and differs at almost every point: aspirated t, curled r, fronted vowel, voiced final d. Dutch changes all four. The str- cluster is where to start, since getting it clean makes the rest of the word fall into place.