Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "spreken" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce spreken in Dutch?

spreken is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈspreːkə(n)/. It means “to speak.” SPRAY-kuh — sp with a plain s, not "shp," and a long "ay" in the stressed syllable.

SPRAY-kuh — sp with a plain s, not "shp," and a long "ay" in the stressed syllable.

spreken /ˈspreːkə(n)/

That opening syllable is heavy with consonants before its vowel even arrives — spr-. Getting the stress right means giving the vowel its full length rather than rushing through it to escape the cluster, which is the instinct most learners have.

Listen: spreken

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Sound it out

sp A plain hissing s followed by an unaspirated p. German would turn this cluster into "shp" at the start of a word; Dutch never does, so keep the s clean.

r Wedged between the p and the vowel and gone almost instantly. Lengthening it stretches the cluster and blurs the syllable.

e It carries the stress and should be fully formed — the open syllable is what stretches it.

en The tail that turns the stem "spreek" into an infinitive. Everything interesting in this word happens before it.

Hear it in a sentence

Spreek je Nederlands?

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Listen: Spreek je Nederlands?

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"Spreek je Nederlands?" is an inverted question using the stem "spreek," and note there is no -t on the verb because "je" follows it. The language name takes no article and no capital-letter quirk beyond the initial N, and it carries first-syllable stress: NAY-der-lands.

Where English speakers slip

Learners with German behind them say "SHPRAY-ken," which is wrong in Dutch — the s stays a plain hiss. Learners with only English tend to shorten the vowel toward "spreck." And the three-consonant onset tempts people to insert a vowel, giving "suh-pray-ken," which adds a syllable Dutch does not have.