Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "praten" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce praten in Dutch?

praten is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈpraːtə(n)/. It means “to talk.” PRAH-tuh — unaspirated p, a light r, a long open "aah," and a clean t.

PRAH-tuh — unaspirated p, a light r, a long open "aah," and a clean t.

praten /ˈpraːtə(n)/

Length in the stressed vowel is what carries this word. Set it against "praatje" (a little chat), where the doubled aa appears in spelling because the syllable closes — the sound is identical, only the orthography adjusts.

Listen: praten

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Sound it out

pr An unaspirated p straight into a tapped or lightly scraped r. English adds a puff after the p in "pray"; Dutch does not, so the cluster is tighter.

a It should sound noticeably longer than the a in a closed syllable like "dat." The open syllable does the lengthening.

t A proper stop between vowels, never flapped into a d as American English would do in "later."

en The t releases into a schwa and stops. If you hear a crisp n at the end of a Dutch verb, the speaker is either reading aloud or from the east of the country.

Hear it in a sentence

We praten over het weer.

We're talking about the weather.

Listen: We praten over het weer.

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"We praten over het weer" pairs the verb with "over," which is the preposition Dutch uses for the topic of conversation. English speakers reach for "van" or "about" translated literally; "praten over" is the fixed combination, and the reduced "het" between them nearly disappears.

Where English speakers slip

Learners aspirate the p and curl the r, which together bend the long vowel out of shape. Keep the p quiet and the r brief. There is also a register point worth knowing: "praten" is chatting or talking, while "spreken" is more formal speech, so using "praten" in a business setting can sound casual.