Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "snel" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce snel in Dutch?

snel is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /snɛl/. It means “fast.” snel — plain s, short "eh," and a bright l. Rhymes with English "bell," not "snail."

snel — plain s, short "eh," and a bright l. Rhymes with English "bell," not "snail."

snel /snɛl/

One quick beat, which is fitting for a word meaning fast. The comparative "sneller" doubles the l in spelling to keep the vowel short, then adds a weak syllable — so the word grows without the stressed part changing at all.

Listen: snel

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Sound it out

sn A hissing s straight into an n. German would palatalise this into "shn"; Dutch leaves the s sharp, which is a consistent difference between the two languages.

e Brief and lax, the vowel of "bell," hemmed in by the consonants on either side.

l A bright final l with the tongue tip forward and the body low — noticeably lighter than the hollow English l that ends "bell."

Hear it in a sentence

De auto is heel snel.

The car is very fast.

Listen: De auto is heel snel.

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"De auto is heel snel" ends on the bare adjective. "Auto" beforehand contains the au spelling of the "ow" diphthong and takes first-syllable stress, AU-to, so the sentence pairs a diphthong-heavy noun with a tight, short adjective.

Where English speakers slip

The dark English l is the audible flaw — pronounced with the tongue pulled back, it colours the vowel before it and makes the word sound muffled. Keep the tongue tip forward. German-influenced learners also say "shnel," importing a cluster Dutch does not use. And "snel" is short: stretching the vowel toward "snail" changes nothing meaningful but sounds distinctly foreign.