Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "slecht" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce slecht in Dutch?

slecht is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /slɛxt/. It means “bad.” slekht — plain s, short "eh," and the harsh Dutch ch before a final t.

slekht — plain s, short "eh," and the harsh Dutch ch before a final t.

slecht /slɛxt/

A single dense syllable — three consonants at the front is unusual enough, and then the vowel is closed by a fricative plus a stop. The whole word occupies one beat regardless, and the inflected "slechte" simply adds a schwa without changing where the weight sits.

Listen: slecht

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Sound it out

sl A hissing s into a bright forward l, with no "shl" and no darkening.

e The vowel of "bet," cut off almost at once by the fricative that follows.

cht The velar scrape running directly into an unaspirated t. Both belong to the same syllable, and no vowel may be inserted between them.

Hear it in a sentence

Het weer is vandaag slecht.

The weather today is bad.

Listen: Het weer is vandaag slecht.

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"Het weer is vandaag slecht" leaves the adjective bare because it follows the verb, so the cht cluster is fully exposed at the end of the sentence with nothing to cushion it. That final position is the hardest place to produce the fricative cleanly and makes this sentence a genuine test.

Where English speakers slip

The near-universal substitution is a k: "slekt." A k seals the airflow; the Dutch ch keeps it scraping. Learners also insert a vowel — "sle-khut" — to make the ending easier, which adds a syllable. And English speakers pull the l back into a dark l, which changes the colour of the vowel before it has even begun.