Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "natuurlijk" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce natuurlijk in Dutch?

natuurlijk is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /naːˈtyrlək/. It means “of course / certainly.” nah-TUUR-luhk — stress on the rounded front vowel in the middle, and "-lijk" is just "-luhk."

nah-TUUR-luhk — stress on the rounded front vowel in the middle, and "-lijk" is just "-luhk."

natuurlijk /naːˈtyrlək/

Three syllables with the beat in the middle: the opening is unstressed and the -lijk suffix cannot take weight, which leaves TUUR as the only candidate. Rhythmically this word matches "makkelijk" and "moeilijk" in its ending but not in its stress position.

Listen: natuurlijk

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Sound it out

na- An unstressed opening syllable with a long but quick a, passing lightly on the way to the beat.

uu The long close front rounded vowel of French "tu": lips pursed, tongue forward. It carries the primary stress, so this is where the word's identity lives.

r A light tap or scrape after the vowel, careful not to swallow the rounding that precedes it.

-lijk Said /lək/ despite showing the ij diphthong on paper — a bare schwa. This suffix is unstressed everywhere it occurs, and its vowel has worn down accordingly.

Hear it in a sentence

Natuurlijk, dat is prima!

Of course, that's fine!

Listen: Natuurlijk, dat is prima!

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"Natuurlijk, dat is prima!" uses the adverb as a standalone reply. "Prima" is a loanword with first-syllable stress, PREE-ma, so the sentence moves from a mid-stressed word to a front-stressed one across the comma.

Where English speakers slip

Three errors compete: the uu becomes "oo" or "you," the suffix becomes "-like," and the stress migrates to the first syllable. Fix the suffix first since it is the easiest and it recurs everywhere. Then work on the vowel — hold an "ee" and round the lips without letting the tongue slide backwards.