Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "het weekend" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce het weekend in Dutch?

het weekend is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ət ˈʋikɛnt/. It means “weekend.” ut VEE-kent — borrowed from English but Dutchified: soft w, and the final d said as a t.

ut VEE-kent — borrowed from English but Dutchified: soft w, and the final d said as a t.

het weekend /ət ˈʋikɛnt/

Front-stressed, following the English original. What makes the word interesting is that Dutch kept the English stress and the English vowel but imposed its own w and its own final devoicing — a half-naturalised borrowing.

Listen: het weekend

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Sound it out

w Dutch imposes its own labiodental on this English borrowing, which is the first sign the word has been naturalised rather than merely imported.

ee Here the English source vowel survives as a bright "ee" rather than the usual Dutch "ay" — a rare case where the borrowed pronunciation overrides the native spelling rule.

k A quiet stop bridging the two syllables, released without the burst English gives it in this same word.

end Short "eh" plus n plus a d that devoices to t. Dutch applies its own final-devoicing rule even to an English loan, so it ends "-ent."

Hear it in a sentence

Wat doe je dit weekend?

What are you doing this weekend?

Listen: Wat doe je dit weekend?

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"Wat doe je dit weekend?" uses the present tense for a future plan and the demonstrative "dit" because "weekend" is a neuter noun. The verb "doe" drops its -t because "je" follows it in the inversion.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say the word exactly as in English, complete with rounded w and voiced final d. Dutch changes both. It is a good illustration of how borrowings get absorbed: the vowel stays foreign, the consonants go native. Saying it the English way is understandable but marks you immediately.