Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "klein" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce klein in Dutch?

klein is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /klɛin/. It means “small.” klayn — an unaspirated k, a bright l, and the ei diphthong that sounds exactly like ij.

klayn — an unaspirated k, a bright l, and the ei diphthong that sounds exactly like ij.

klein /klɛin/

The diphthong's internal movement is what gives this single beat its weight. Inflected as "kleine," a schwa is appended and the accent stays exactly where it was — Dutch adjective endings never disturb the stressed syllable.

Listen: klein

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Sound it out

kl A quiet k into a bright forward l. English aspirates the k in "clean" and darkens nothing; Dutch does the reverse on both counts.

ei The diphthong rising from a mid-front "eh" toward "ee" — identical in sound to the spelling ij. Dutch keeps two spellings for one sound, and only the dictionary tells you which word takes which.

n Tongue tip on the ridge, said cleanly. It closes the diphthong off rather than letting it trail.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik heb een kleine hond.

I have a small dog.

Listen: Ik heb een kleine hond.

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"Ik heb een kleine hond" shows the adjective taking -e before a de-word, which is the normal case; the exception is the uninflected form before neuter nouns with "een." Set this next to "een groot huis" and the two sentences together teach the whole rule.

Where English speakers slip

English "clean" and "Klein" as a surname pull in two different wrong directions — the first supplies "ee," the second the German "eye." Dutch ei sits between them, starting around "eh" and rising. Learners also aspirate the k, which is minor but adds up across a sentence.