Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "rechts" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce rechts in Dutch?

rechts is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /rɛxts/. It means “right.” rekhts — a quick r, a short "eh," then the harsh ch running into a ts cluster.

rekhts — a quick r, a short "eh," then the harsh ch running into a ts cluster.

rechts /rɛxts/

An extraordinary consonant load closes this beat. Like "herfst," the word has no inflected form to relieve the cluster, so it simply has to be practised as it stands — there is no gentler relative to build from.

Listen: rechts

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Sound it out

r A tongue-tip flick or a soft back scrape, kept brief so the short vowel behind it stays clean.

e The vowel of "wreck," cut off almost immediately by the fricative that follows.

chts Four sounds compressed into the end of one syllable: the velar scrape, a quiet t, and a hiss. Dutch says all of them with no vowel inserted anywhere — one of the language's densest endings.

Hear it in a sentence

De winkel is rechts.

The shop is on the right.

Listen: De winkel is rechts.

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"De winkel is rechts" ends on the adverb, so the four-consonant cluster closes the sentence with nothing after it to soften the landing. That final position is the hardest place to produce it cleanly and makes this a genuine test.

Where English speakers slip

Almost everyone substitutes a k for the ch and drops something from the cluster, producing "rekts" or "rets." Keep the air scraping and say all four sounds. Build it backwards — "-ts," then "-chts," then add the vowel and the r — rather than trying to say the whole word at speed.