Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "vrij" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce vrij in Dutch?

vrij is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /vrɛi/. It means “free (available).” fray — softly-voiced v, a quick r, and the ij diphthong.

fray — softly-voiced v, a quick r, and the ij diphthong.

vrij /vrɛi/

One beat ending on an open diphthong. Inflected as "vrije," a schwa follows and a light y-glide bridges them, which lengthens the word noticeably without moving the accent. The bare form is the harder of the two to say cleanly.

Listen: vrij

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Sound it out

v Half-devoiced at the start of a word in northern Dutch, sitting between English f and v. Let the voicing catch up rather than leading with it.

r Made immediately after the v, in a completely different part of the mouth. That mismatch is what makes this cluster awkward at first.

ij The diphthong rising from "eh" toward "ee." With nothing after it, the glide is fully exposed and easy to hear.

Hear it in a sentence

Ben je vanavond vrij?

Are you free tonight?

Listen: Ben je vanavond vrij?

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"Ben je vanavond vrij?" is an inverted yes/no question with the verb fronted, and the adjective closes it. Dutch marks the question by word order rather than by an auxiliary, so there is no equivalent of "do" anywhere in the sentence.

Where English speakers slip

The vr- cluster gets broken up with a helping vowel — "vuh-RY" — or the r gets dropped altogether. Both sounds have to run together. Add the usual misreading of ij as "eye" and the word becomes "vrye," which is wrong on both counts. Start with a near-f, flick the r, then glide the vowel upward.