Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "kijken" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce kijken in Dutch?

kijken is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈkɛikə(n)/. It means “to watch / look.” KAY-kuh — unaspirated k's, the ij diphthong in the stressed syllable, and no final n.

KAY-kuh — unaspirated k's, the ij diphthong in the stressed syllable, and no final n.

kijken /ˈkɛikə(n)/

Everything is front-loaded here: the diphthong takes the beat and the second syllable is pure filler. Giving "-ken" any real vowel makes the word sound like two words stuck together.

Listen: kijken

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Sound it out

k (first) Released with no puff of air. English "kite" begins with a small explosion; Dutch does not.

ij The stressed diphthong, rising from a mid-front "eh" toward "ee." It sounds identical to the spelling ei, which is why "kijken" and a hypothetical "keiken" would be homophones.

k (second) Also unaspirated, closing the stressed syllable and opening the reduced one.

en One of the many endings that make Dutch verbs look longer on paper than they sound. Two written syllables, one and a half spoken.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik kijk graag naar voetbal.

I like watching soccer.

Listen: Ik kijk graag naar voetbal.

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"Ik kijk graag naar voetbal" shows that "kijken" needs "naar" when you watch something — Dutch does not let this verb take a bare object the way English "watch" does. The stem "kijk" ends in a voiceless k, and "graag" adds the velar fricative twice, so the sentence covers a lot of Dutch sound territory in six words.

Where English speakers slip

The ij is read as "eye" by almost every beginner, giving "KY-ken" to rhyme with "biken." The Dutch diphthong starts much higher in the mouth. On the grammar side, forgetting "naar" is the standard slip — "ik kijk voetbal" is not idiomatic, and "ik kijk naar voetbal" is.