Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "mooi" in Dutch?

MOH-ee — a long "oh" gliding into a short "ee." One syllable, two vowel positions.

mooi /moːi/

A long single beat: the vowel has to travel from a rounded back position to a front one, which takes time. Adding the adjective ending gives "mooie," where a schwa follows without disturbing the beat, so "een mooie dag" still peaks on MOOI-.

Listen: mooi

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Sound it out

m A plain m, lips closed and voice on.

oo The main body of the diphthong, and it should be held. The doubled letter marks the length.

i A short "ee" glide at the end. The tongue rises from the "oh" position toward "ee" without ever settling there — the two together form a single Dutch diphthong.

Hear it in a sentence

Wat een mooie dag!

What a beautiful day!

Listen: Wat een mooie dag!

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"Wat een mooie dag!" is the standard exclamation pattern — "wat een" plus an adjective plus a noun. The adjective takes the -e ending here, which turns the word into two syllables and makes the diphthong flow smoothly into the schwa rather than being cut off.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers read "oo" as the vowel of "moon" and produce "mooey" or "moy." The first element is an "oh," not an "oo." Some also flatten the whole thing into a single vowel, losing the glide entirely — the word genuinely has two vowel positions and needs both to sound Dutch.