Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "veel" in Dutch?

fayl — softly-voiced v, long "ay," and a bright l. It does not rhyme with English "feel."

veel /veːl/

As a quantifier this word often shares prominence with the noun it modifies: "veel VRIEN-den" peaks on the noun. It takes the beat itself only when the quantity is the point — "ik heb VEEL gedaan."

Listen: veel

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Sound it out

v Half-devoiced at the start in the northern standard, sitting between f and v.

ee Lower and longer than the English "ee" of "feel." That mismatch is what makes the cognate misleading here.

l Bright and forward at the end, with the tongue body kept low so it does not darken.

Hear it in a sentence

Ik heb veel vrienden in Utrecht.

I have a lot of friends in Utrecht.

Listen: Ik heb veel vrienden in Utrecht.

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"Ik heb veel vrienden in Utrecht" uses "veel" before a plural noun with no article, and the city name takes stress on its second syllable, u-TRECHT, ending in the cht cluster. So the sentence closes on one of Dutch's harder consonant sequences.

Where English speakers slip

English "feel" supplies both the wrong vowel and a dark l, and the spelling makes that substitution feel natural. Dutch ee is lower than English "ee," and the l stays bright. Learners also confuse "veel" with "vaak": one is much or many, the other is often, and English "a lot" blurs the line.