Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "op" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce op in Dutch?

op is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɔp/. It means “on.” op, with the short rounded o of British "hot" and a quietly released p.

op, with the short rounded o of British "hot" and a quietly released p.

op /ɔp/

Unstressed as a preposition, but stressed as a separable verb prefix — compare the flat "op de tafel" with the emphatic "op" in "ik sta om zeven uur op." Same two letters, and the beat is what tells you which grammatical role it is playing.

Listen: op

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Sound it out

o Purse the lips slightly and keep it brief. British "pot" is close; American "pop" unrounds it and spreads it out, which is not what Dutch wants.

p Released without aspiration. English word-final p often comes with a small puff; Dutch closes the lips and stops.

Hear it in a sentence

Het boek ligt op de tafel.

The book is on the table.

Listen: Het boek ligt op de tafel.

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"Het boek ligt op de tafel" uses "liggen" rather than "zijn," because Dutch prefers a posture verb — books lie, cups stand — where English just says "is." The preposition sits unstressed between two content words, so the rhythm runs LIGT-op-de-TA-fel.

Where English speakers slip

The vowel drifts toward the American "ah" of "top," losing the lip rounding that Dutch keeps. Round slightly and keep it short. The larger difficulty is choosing between "op," "in" and "aan," which carve up spatial meaning differently from English — "op de foto," "op school," "op de fiets" all use "op" where English would reach for something else.