Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "vergeten" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce vergeten in Dutch?

vergeten is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /vərˈɣeːtə(n)/. It means “to forget.” vuhr-KHAY-tuh — unstressed ver- prefix, then the harsh g and a long "ay" under the stress.

vuhr-KHAY-tuh — unstressed ver- prefix, then the harsh g and a long "ay" under the stress.

vergeten /vərˈɣeːtə(n)/

Because ver- cannot take stress, the accent lands in the middle. That makes this verb rhythmically identical to "betalen" and "beginnen" — weak, strong, weak — and once you recognise the prefix family, the stress of dozens of verbs becomes predictable at a glance.

Listen: vergeten

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Sound it out

ver- The unstressed prefix: soft v, schwa, faint r. It goes by so quickly that in fast speech it can sound like little more than "vr-."

g Velar friction opening the stressed syllable. Placed after the r of the prefix, it makes a demanding sequence — two back-of-the-mouth sounds in a row.

e Stretched by the open syllable, and the only vowel in the word with any real substance.

ten A clean unaspirated t plus the reduced ending, collapsing to "-tuh."

Hear it in a sentence

Vergeet je jas niet!

Don't forget your coat!

Listen: Vergeet je jas niet!

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"Vergeet je jas niet!" is an imperative built on the bare stem, with the negator at the end after the object. Note that the imperative fronts the verb and drops the pronoun entirely, and the exclamation gives the fricative in "vergeet" a chance to be really audible.

Where English speakers slip

Two habits stack up: the g comes out as an English hard g, giving "ver-GAY-ten," and the prefix gets a full vowel, giving "VER-ge-ten." Both need correcting. The trickiest part is physically getting from the r of the prefix to the velar fricative without a stumble — practise the two syllables slowly before speeding up, since rushing produces a swallowed sound that is neither.