Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "rood" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce rood in Dutch?

rood is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /roːt/. It means “red.” roht — a long, pure "oh" ending in a t, because the final d is devoiced.

roht — a long, pure "oh" ending in a t, because the final d is devoiced.

rood /roːt/

The long vowel is the whole rhythmic character of this word. The inflected form "rode" adds an unstressed schwa syllable without moving the accent, so "de rode appel" still peaks on RO-.

Listen: rood

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Sound it out

r Either a tongue-tip tap or a soft uvular scrape, both standard. What matters is that it stays a brief consonant instead of bleeding into the vowel the way English r does.

oo Nothing moves during this vowel — Dutch holds one tongue position for the whole of it, where English "road" slides toward "oo" at the end. That glide has to go.

d Written d, pronounced t. In "rode" (the inflected form) the d sits between vowels and is heard as a genuine d, which shows what the underlying consonant really is.

Hear it in a sentence

De appel is rood.

The apple is red.

Listen: De appel is rood.

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"De appel is rood" keeps the adjective bare, with no -e ending, because it stands after the verb rather than before a noun. That is why the devoiced final t is fully audible here — put the adjective in front of the noun and it becomes "de rode appel," with the d restored.

Where English speakers slip

Two things go wrong. English speakers say a long "oh" that glides into a w-sound at the end, as in "road" — Dutch keeps it flat and steady. And they finish with a voiced d, since the spelling shows one. Say "roht," and if you doubt the devoicing, listen for the contrast with "rode": that pair proves the rule better than any explanation.