Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "open" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce open in Dutch?

open is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈoːpə(n)/. It means “open.” OH-puh — long steady "oh," and the final n usually dropped in speech.

OH-puh — long steady "oh," and the final n usually dropped in speech.

open /ˈoːpə(n)/

Weight on the front, then a steep drop into the schwa. Notice that this word is spelled and stressed identically to the verb stem in "openen" — Dutch does not shift the accent to distinguish adjective from verb, so context does all the work.

Listen: open

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Sound it out

o Long and pure, lengthened because the syllable ends right after it. English "open" glides toward "oo"; Dutch keeps the tongue still.

p Unaspirated between the vowels, released quietly. English gives this p a small puff.

en A weak closing syllable that reduces to a schwa, with the n disappearing in ordinary speech — the same ending that closes every Dutch infinitive.

Hear it in a sentence

De winkel is open.

The store is open.

Listen: De winkel is open.

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"De winkel is open" ends on the adjective, and "open" here stays uninflected because it follows the verb. Placed before a noun it would take -e: "de open deur" is actually an exception that keeps the bare form, which is worth noticing as an oddity.

Where English speakers slip

Spelled identically to its English twin, and pronounced with a glided vowel, an aspirated p and a fully articulated n. Dutch changes all three: flat "oh," quiet p, and the n gone. Because the word looks so familiar, learners rarely think to adjust it, which makes it a persistent small giveaway.