Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "naar" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce naar in Dutch?

naar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /naːr/. It means “to.” nahr — a long open "aah" with a light r on the end. One syllable, held.

nahr — a long open "aah" with a light r on the end. One syllable, held.

naar /naːr/

A preposition, so it usually rides unstressed toward the noun that follows, but its long vowel means it never reduces to a schwa the way "de" or "het" do. It stays audible and full-bodied even when it carries no beat.

Listen: naar

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Sound it out

n An ordinary n, tongue tip up, nothing to adjust from English.

aa The doubled letter signals genuine length: hold the open "aah" roughly twice as long as the short a in "dat." This length distinction carries real meaning in Dutch.

r A brief tap or soft back scrape after the vowel has finished. Crucially, it should not bend the vowel — the "aah" stays pure right up to the r.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik ga naar de winkel.

I'm going to the shop.

Listen: Ik ga naar de winkel.

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"Ik ga naar de winkel" pairs "naar" with a destination — this is the preposition Dutch uses for movement toward a place, where "in" or "op" would express being there. The three unstressed syllables "naar de win-" run together before the stress lands on WIN-kel.

Where English speakers slip

The American r is the main saboteur here: pronounced with a curled tongue, it colours the whole vowel and turns "naar" into something like "nar." Keep the vowel long and open, then add a light r afterward. Learners also confuse this with the adjective "naar" (unpleasant), which is spelled and said identically — context is the only guide.