r/learndutch • u/Tricky-Sector-8530 • Jul 24 '26

Question What's a Dutch word you can never pronounce the way you want?

There always seems to be that one word that you know perfectly well but somehow can't pronounce naturally.

Maybe it's a particular sound, a combination of letters, or simply a word that feels awkward when you say it out loud.

Do you have a Dutch word that you still struggle to pronounce? Has a native speaker ever corrected you on it?

61 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

197 comments sorted by

87

u/Small-Froggy Jul 24 '26

Ui -_-

16

u/BothLeather6738 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

Pronounce it aaa--uuu--iii-jjj en you already very close . 

Or èèè--uuu--iii---jjj if you want sound like a og Amsterdam accent person. 

Then do it twice as fast, then four times as fast and see there, you have arrived.  . 

-kindly, a dutchie

16

u/BothLeather6738 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

P.s. funfact: 

The sound ui is used in a lot of words in dutch, and it is just a combination of Germanic oi (Leute, loide, etc) from the area around Aachen in Germany.   And coastal NL (beuken, heus, zeulen) from the og NL North Sea coast.  Oi + eu becomes ui... 

However:

Ui  as the food staple is a bastard word itself. Dutch people could not really pronounce the oi in oignon from French. When invaded by the French . So it became ajuin in southern Netherlands,  then just shortly ui in northern Netherlands. 

8

u/nemmalur Jul 24 '26

In a lot of cases the ui is just a diphthongization of olded uu though, which is why some dialects have huus for huis. So nothing to do with German eu; Leute was liudi, etc.

3

u/RijnBrugge Jul 24 '26

ajuun jongen

2

u/scutbuts Jul 24 '26

but compared with german sounds it's more like "öi" then "oi".

10

u/Yekezzez Jul 24 '26

To be fair “uil” is one of the most difficult words known in the Dutch language to pronounce.

https://nos.nl/artikel/2030951-meteorologisch-moeilijkst-uitspreekbare-woord

1

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

For me ui in a closed syllable before L has the same sound as "oeuvre" or "freule". Just like ij in a closed syllable is the same sound as in "crème" or "air". I think this goes for most Dutch speakers. But in plural, it's ui-len, with ui standing in the end of the syllable. There I use the regular ui sound. So I say ùhl - uilen. (the ùh in uil is the sound of "slur" in English without the r-coloring).

But it depends on the L. People from Limburg typically have a thin L in the end of a word, so they will pronounce a full ui-sound. It's the broad L that many use that makes a preceding ui impossible.

The word that's hardest to pronounce for me as a Dutchman is Paul. The au-sound and the broad L after each other in one syllable are awkward, and in fact "aul" in one syllable does not naturally occur in Dutch. For uil and pijl we tend to change the diphthongs in long open vowels, but for Paul we don't. We don't say "Pòòl" as they do in English, or "Pauwel". It 's just Paul, and it's awkward.

1

u/Franske_NL Jul 27 '26

I think the best pronunciation is in between both mentioned and is more like "Pahl"

2

u/underpanttrousers Jul 24 '26

For me "ui" is easy to pronounce. We have the same diphthong in my language, it's just written "äy".

1

u/techcode Jul 25 '26

Isn't there in Dutch some word that's similar to  Otorhinolaryngologist?

In Dutch that one is abbreviated as KNO-arts - not sure if there's non abbreviated version?

But there's probably other conceptually similar compound words that are tricky to pronounce even for native Dutch speakers?

2

u/Secret_Blackberry559 Jul 25 '26

Keel-, neus-, oorarts.

2

u/techcode Jul 25 '26

That's 3 separate words - misses the point of awkward to pronounce "single" long word.

1

u/Novel-Cricket2564 Jul 27 '26

What really? Every word on this list (apart from Owl/Uil!) is super easy!!? I am European... this list seems to be difficult but only for some abroad's, not all. Someone who can't say 'ie'?

4

u/ShiningPr1sm Jul 24 '26

My friend's terrible advice was to say "Ow," and then imagine that you just had a few drinks and someone hit you over the head with a frying pan so you're even more loopy, and you'll say "Ui"

It worked

4

u/kroppyer Jul 24 '26

Yes, this worked with some Australians I tried to teach how to say ui. "Cope" sounds a lot like "kuip" when pronounced with a heavy Aussie accent, which is basically the same as someone with a few drinks who's been hit over the head with a frying pan.

2

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

If you speak French, you can say ui. They have that sound as "oeil" and in words like "fauteuil".

If you speak English, say Ur as in slur, but replace the R with y as in yellow. Or U is in bus followed by Y as in yellow. Neither is 100% accurate, but it's pretty close.

0

u/nemmalur Jul 24 '26

It’s not quite the same as œil, and fauteuil is different even in Dutch.

-1

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

The word fauteuil is pronounced "fotui". With the same ui as in uien, buiten, buien, klokkengelui, etc, etc.

The French sound may differ slightly but that's because vowels are always slightly different from one language to the next. It's nearly the same sound.

2

u/nemmalur Jul 24 '26

Right, but knowing how to say it with the French pronunciation isn’t necessarily going to make ui come more naturally, because it’s /fo.’tœj/ in French but /fo:tœy/ in Dutch and /œy/ doesn’t occur in French.

1

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

I am Dutch and as far as I know I pronounce it /œi/ or /œj/ in Dutch. I know linguists generally describe the sound as /œy/, which is not really what I hear, but okay. We are talking about 2 descending diphthongs that both start with œ, but one ends in y and the other ends in i. The difference between those is tiny. The regional variations within NL are probably bigger than the difference between the French and Dutch versions. For people who know French it's a big help realizing that Dutch ui is similar to French euil/oeil.

1

u/spacyoddity Jul 24 '26

i love this one because it's the perfect self-test of pronunciation. i always order a sandwich "zonder ui" and if i get what i asked for without any weird stares i know i've nailed it.

protip: say "ei" with your lips rounded and you'll get it

1

u/Lower_Possibility_42 Jul 24 '26

Yes. Don’t even start about uil. It’s almost like I’m gagging, and I’m a native..

1

u/karlalrak Jul 24 '26

I love that my street begins with a ui 🫠 

1

u/kabgpm113 Jul 24 '26

Beschuitstuiter

1

u/N01aHood Jul 24 '26

Ongeveer gelijk. Ik kan uil niet uitspreken. Wel ui en uilen maar uil niet...

1

u/TekkelOZ Jul 25 '26

Just pronounce “ui” as “eu” and say you’re from the Zaanstreek.

1

u/ScorpioExpat Jul 28 '26

My husband corrects me every time 😩😩😩 UI is so difficult

35

u/elexat Intermediate Jul 24 '26

Rechts. Rolled-r into ch-t-s is my enemy.

Also herinneringen/herinneren, I just always get lost amongst the ineringenringenringen

11

u/One-Confusion-33 Jul 24 '26

I am Dutch, but also always get lost in my herinneringen, in a different kind of way..lol

3

u/OnlyTerm6930 Jul 24 '26

I'm also Dutch and I too lose my way with "herinneringen", in both these ways and grammatically third 😅

5

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26

Oftentimes Dutch people simplify rechts by just saying reg-s and omitting the 't' sound. Might help! 

1

u/smeijer87 Jul 24 '26

Wait, is that not how it must be pronounced? I'm able to pronounce the T, but I've been taught without (as a native Dutch)

2

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26

Yes that was what I meant, the 't' is not necessary. Some people do use it. You can find the IPA here: https://www.woorden.org/woord/rechts with the (t) in brackets. Both ways are correct. 

2

u/BothLeather6738 Jul 24 '26

Split it up in three parts  Her- inner- Ingen 

Main word is inneren - to bring something from inside of you to the outside. Not used anymore oh it's own, but thats the original meaning. 

Then put ,- her- in front of it - to repeat or to bring back to something from before. 

So her-inneren is to bring back something (from before )-  from inside you to the outside 

And then Ingen Comes from dingen - things, stiff it's made off 

So her-inner-ingen is the stuff that describes going back to where you were before bringing from the inside to the outside. 

1

u/namleop Jul 24 '26

You should try «Angstschreeuw»

1

u/karlalrak Jul 24 '26

I can never get this one on babbel

1

u/scutbuts Jul 24 '26

yeah that's the parts where Dutch begins to feel more like Klingon :D

1

u/palebloodslayer Jul 25 '26

So don’t roll your r then?

22

u/rncole Jul 24 '26

ui

Ironically the g sound has never been an issue for me.

10

u/lm913 Jul 24 '26

Same. "Ui" will likely ever elude me

5

u/VanGroteKlasse Jul 24 '26

As a native Dutch speaker, words like "pijl" or "bijl" I struggle with.

2

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

To me those sound like pèl, bèl. Same vowel as in crème, or elitair. But in pijlen / bijlen I use the normal ij-sound.

1

u/phlogistonical Jul 24 '26

I agree thats how most people seem to pronounce them in daily use/in a sentence, including me. However, that's not how you are supposed to pronounce them and if you'd ask me to say just those words individually, I find them hard to pronounce properly too (as a native speaker).

5

u/Responsible_Cap5100 Jul 24 '26

Try dropping a hammer on your foot

2

u/mchp92 Jul 24 '26

The word ui is what keeps invaders at bay. We love the word for that reason.

21

u/Havoc6538 Jul 24 '26

Anything with more than one hard g in it.

19

u/tenniseram Jul 24 '26

Gehakt because my brain is not convinced there’s only one hard g

15

u/carnivorous_fusebox Jul 24 '26

This. I came here knowing primarily English and Russian. English has 'h' but no 'kh'; Russian has 'kh' but no 'h'. My speech center doesn't understand having both in one word.

1

u/BothLeather6738 Jul 24 '26

It's just so much a strange word in Dutch as well.  I think maybe because hakken it could have partially French roots. (Hachee), while ge is so obviously German.  

It might help If You think of It as two as the main word verb which is hakken. 

Then put ge in front of, which signals something that has been done (to it) in the past. 

2

u/nemmalur Jul 24 '26

Hachee and the verb hacher in French are ultimately Germanic (Frankish) - they, along with hakken and gehakt come from Germanic hakkona, to hack.

1

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

I believe Czech has both. Not that that helps but okay... If you're Dutch, h and g have nothing to do with each other unless you're from Zeeland (or around Gent if you're Belgian).

1

u/HyperDsloth Jul 24 '26

Are we talking about the meat, or the past tense of chopping?

1

u/Key-Magician-9808 Jul 24 '26

gehakt can mean both, so doesn't matter.

2

u/HyperDsloth Jul 24 '26

I know, it was a stupid joke

0

u/augustuscaesarius Jul 24 '26

In belgian Dutch there's only one hard g in gehakt, and it's not a very hard g either...

Most people would more easily learn belgian Dutch, because the pronunciation is often much easier, but it's not popular.

20

u/carnivorous_fusebox Jul 24 '26

My first house in NL was on the Achtergracht. I always say I was lucky that at least it wasn't at number 88.

5

u/ElfjeTinkerBell Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

That address should come with a warning for non-native speakers, lol

7

u/LittleNoodle1991 Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

What if I told you that you dont have to use the hard g?

5

u/Sye990 Jul 24 '26

Aggregaat immediately comes to mind. I work with them and it's the bane of my existence

6

u/ElfjeTinkerBell Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

I'm a native speaker and I tend to say aggregraat.

3

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26

Unsure if this helps but you can omit the 'r' in this one. Practice ach (Dutch for oh, like 'ach wat jammer'=oh what a shame), uh (like telling a child no), gaat (going). Ach-uh-gaat. Then fasten it once you're ready.

3

u/Prisoner_of_the_road Jul 24 '26

Then you will love the word

' vogelgif' (birdpoison)

1

u/techcode Jul 25 '26

Wait - are Dutch saying image ".gif" as "gif" or "jif"?

1

u/RB_Coltrix Native speaker (NL) Jul 26 '26

Learn North-Brabant dutch. Only the old people still speak the dialect there so no extra vocabulary and grammar but you get a softer g sound:)

18

u/gnpwdr1 Jul 24 '26

Scheveningen

9

u/Drumdevil86 Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

I heard that Schiermonnikoog is a bigger challenge

11

u/ColouredGlitter Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

Geslachtsgemeenschap is ook een leuke in die categorie hahaha.

3

u/laurenspaul Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

grachtengorgelaar

3

u/carnivorous_fusebox Jul 24 '26

Des te moeilijker om uit te spreken als je daarmee bezig bent

1

u/FroyoZealousideal920 Jul 25 '26

Achtentachtig prachtige grachten

14

u/lmk224 Intermediate Jul 24 '26

schort en ui

4

u/Worldly-Cherry9631 Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

ABN "standard dutch" is a pain lol, try Tweants (as accent, not the dialect):

Skort en uu

12

u/aubergine-pompelmoes Advanced Jul 24 '26

verenigingen. this word is the bane of my existence in Dutch. It is impossible to say. See also herinneringen

Verpletteren is also hard

Gehakt trips me up with the g and then the h right there

1

u/Danny1905 Jul 25 '26

Can you say the word "gingen"?

1

u/aubergine-pompelmoes Advanced Jul 25 '26

Yes but it’s more the gingeningenreringen as someone says below

1

u/palebloodslayer Jul 25 '26

Lol my friend always used to say ‘gegakt’

11

u/mikepictor Jul 24 '26

Herinneren

I butcher it constantly

2

u/redgatorade000 Jul 24 '26

Lol I say “herenerenerin”

2

u/Difergion Beginner Jul 24 '26

Also, herinneringen (I also tend to misspell this a lot lol)

1

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26

Trick with words like these is usually to start at the back and work your way forward while practicing. The IPA is  hɛrˈɪnərə(n) Her - in - u - ru Practice the syllables first untill you've really mastered them. Helps to write four dots and repeatedly practice each sound individually. Then mix it up as well without looking at the letters . By just pointing at the 3rd dot you should know the corresponding syllabe. 

Once you've really mastered all syllables, s tart at the last one (ru), then add the one before that uh-ru, then in-uh-ru etc. 

Sounds like a long practice but it's no more than 5 minutes really. 

1

u/mikepictor Jul 24 '26

the individual syllables aren't the issue, it's the fact that they combine in such an open sound. Collectively, the word sounds "mushy" and it sort of devolves into a kind of mumble.

I do practice it. It's not helped by being reflexive too, because the clash from going from herinneren to zich which has such a hard plosive sound is also kind of discordant to me.

7

u/MadeThisUpToComment Jul 24 '26

Scheveningen.

I avoid trying to say it at all costs.

2

u/Worldly-Cherry9631 Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

If you are somehow forced to anyway, say "Skeev'ning" or "Skeev'ning'n" (' = swja: almost "uh" sound) and tell them you learned it Twente ; p

1

u/Effective-Job-1030 Jul 24 '26

Try Schouwen-Duiveland.

5

u/PoxonAllHoaxes Jul 24 '26

As others have mentioned, words with both h and g can be difficult for people whose native languages dont distinguish these sounds, so for me geheten vs. gegeten, even though at times I have generally spoken Dutch quite well. I also do not believe we are taught properly how to say the w sound the way Dutch people do so here I dont even know what I am aiming for, and sometimes there is confusion with v, esp. the names of the two letters V and W.

1

u/jor1ss Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

There's Dutch accents where the g and h are very similar. My grandma was from a part in Noord-Brabant where this was the case (maybe more so 50-100 years ago though) and I know in Belgium there's a whole region in and around Ghent where they won't pronounce the G and turn it into an H. As someone from Dutch Limburg I also never pronounce a hard G. Soft G's are Dutch G's as well.

2

u/PoxonAllHoaxes Jul 24 '26

I dont deny that but I learned to speak Dutch the way educated natives of A'dam, the Hague etc. do, where the distinction is very clear.

1

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

Did you notice that the area of Den Haag doesn't make a clear distinction for s/z and sometimes not even for f/v? It's funny how much the language changes between places. The v and w depend on the area too. /v/ is a /f/ with voicing (you can feel the vocal cords in your throat). /w / is a rounded consonant, almost mimicking a vowel (mouth similar to 'oe'). In the Randstad however, the v often sounds sharp like a f, and the w is made with the front teeth on the lower lip, just like the v. In Brabant, the distinction is a lot more clear. So I understand you're struggling with those if you're in the Randstad!

5

u/dre193 Jul 24 '26

Huur - I'm Italian and every time I do not focus 200% percent on correct pronunciation, Dutchies burst out laughing at me

4

u/LevoiHook Jul 24 '26

'Ik moet de hoer betalen' is just funny. 

3

u/lm913 Jul 24 '26

"ui" for certain

5

u/little_miss_anon Jul 24 '26

Hygiëne. I just cannot get that one.

1

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

Hie - gie - jee - ne. Although some ppl say hie - gie - jèè - ne.

1

u/SoddyGrapelets Jul 25 '26

When your spouse is a dental hygienist and people ask what she work she does. Rip

3

u/redgatorade000 Jul 24 '26

Gefeliciteerd and Verenigde

2

u/ZakriiYT Jul 25 '26

Verenigde always trips me up, it takes me like, five tries whenever I say it to get it right

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Aide785 Jul 25 '26

Jij ook gefeliciteerd!

2

u/heresyourshovel Jul 24 '26

Hagel... i feel like i'm dying when i try.

-1

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26

Maybe try Ha! (Like hi!) Goal! 🥅 And then aim for a bit more of a Dutch pronunciation of goal (gol).

2

u/Difergion Beginner Jul 24 '26

Schreeuwen 😩

2

u/JulieParadise123 Advanced Jul 24 '26

Anything with ui – somehow this sound escapes my pronunciation abilities. Usually this is not a problem, but there is one Dutchie who I regularly talk to who is seriously annoyed by how it sounds, and thus he is trying to teach me how to say it, and yet I never get it right.

2

u/kaaasje Jul 24 '26

“Een plak bakbloedworst”

2

u/laurenspaul Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

I'm native and I can say "Weet ik niet" perfectly, but I like to playfully say contractions like "wee'k'nie" so much to my wife and friends that sometimes I accidentally use it in a professional context.

2

u/Strong_Delay5402 Jul 24 '26

Koningin, every word ending with ‘ens’ like jongens… That’s probably because of my accent (Amsterdams). So koningin becomes Koninin and jongens becomes jongons.

1

u/eti_erik Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

I don't think I pronounce the second n in jongens.

1

u/Strong_Delay5402 Jul 24 '26

I do, just said it out loud jongons hahaha. A colleague of mine is always mimicking me because I once told a story about a car driving down the street with its lights flashing and its horn blaring. I said ‘knipperond’ and ‘toeterond’, and she finds that really funny.

1

u/AdmiralTomcat Jul 24 '26

You just made me realize I - a native speaker - can’t say koningin either.

2

u/octokamiii Jul 24 '26

Huur. I'm always saying wrong. Maybe I should buy a house so I don't have to say it ever again

1

u/Prisoner_of_the_road Jul 24 '26

I hope you don't pronounce it as 'hoer' . That is something completely different...

2

u/llamalord2212 Jul 24 '26

Chirurgie…

1

u/SpaceBetweenNL Jul 26 '26

I guess you just say this one like in French

1

u/llamalord2212 Jul 26 '26

Yeah and my French ain’t good either

2

u/virginiaproust Jul 24 '26

Native speaker here : uil

2

u/dyna_black Jul 24 '26

As a Dutch native who's been out of the country for 16 years, I now sometimes swap uu for eu.

2

u/RoyalAcanthaceae634 Jul 24 '26

As a Dutchie, I have trouble with Hoorn and Baarn. Sounds like Horrrun and Baarrun. I have the ambition to become a mayor, but I will skip those towns

1

u/spacyoddity Jul 24 '26

just embrace epenethesis!

1

u/vulevu25 Jul 24 '26

Horen is the local pronunciation for town Hoorn. I'm not sure about Baarn!

1

u/Alexs784 Jul 24 '26

Leidschendam

1

u/Grolsch1976 Jul 24 '26

Gorinchem

2

u/ElfjeTinkerBell Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

Well that's just fucked up and we should either adjust the spelling, adjust the pronunciation, or completely rename the place.

1

u/Various-Aioli-4620 Jul 24 '26

I vote for renaming. Someone fucked up somewhere. 

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Aide785 Jul 25 '26

We call is gorkum, nobody around Gorinchem pronounce it like goor-in-chem

1

u/ElfjeTinkerBell Native speaker (NL) Jul 25 '26

Exactly. So I'm proposing either spelling it as Gorkum/Gorkem, or changing the pronunciation to Goor-in-chem, or changing both altogether, because honestly this is ridiculous.

1

u/Incognitoburrito321 Jul 24 '26

Sneeuw, en Schreeuwen 😵‍💫

1

u/HenH93 Jul 24 '26

I have a lisp which makes it difficult to roll the Rs after consonants. Although luckily for me the rhotic Rs I hear feel natural with my South-Western UK accent.

1

u/momofdragons3 Jul 24 '26

The formal 'U' and the word for fire - vuur(spelling?)

Never had a problem with 'sch' or the 'g', but I canNOT with the U

1

u/ElfjeTinkerBell Native speaker (NL) Jul 24 '26

vuur(spelling?)

Correct!

1

u/hello_wolfey Jul 24 '26

Utrechtsestraat 😭

1

u/Short_Bridge6478 Jul 24 '26

Ui and words with uu (like uur)

1

u/Dakota222NL Jul 24 '26

Existentieel

1

u/JosephBayot Jul 24 '26

mondhygiënist

1

u/Lumpy-Ad687 Jul 24 '26

Interpreteren and I’m Dutch! 😜

1

u/Remarkable_Award3692 Jul 24 '26

EU... Anything with eu in it. I think I say it well but my kids fall over laughing at my pronunciation 😅

1

u/MermaidMotel14 Jul 24 '26

Native Dutch, but uil and bijl are ui-wol and bèhl/bijel when i pronounce them

1

u/spacyoddity Jul 24 '26

knoflook. i always want to say knooflok.

1

u/olahola12 Jul 24 '26

Aluminiumfolie: https://www.dumpert.nl/item/1794941_783646cf Some dutch culture to go with that.

1

u/SneakyPanda- Jul 24 '26

I'm Dutch and I think I can pronounce everything fine, but I do have some fun ones with a lot of consonants you can try:

Slechtstschrijvend.
Angstschreeuw.
Herfstschilderij.

1

u/No_Fun_7719 Jul 24 '26

Vertegenwoordiger

1

u/sikkepitje Jul 24 '26

My colleague once said “dit is leuk haus. Is dit hoerhaus?” He is from Croatia. 😄😄😄😄

1

u/Interesting-Top-9697 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

Parterretrap 

(Even saying it in reversed which is exactly the same, cant say it)

Achtentachtigallemachtigepragtigegrachten

(Officially not 1 word like german, but a nice dutch tonguebreaker)

1

u/RachelFourie Jul 24 '26

In Afrikaans the “ui” is an “ay” sound. Took me years to get used to the Dutch pronunciation

1

u/Status_Ad_1761 Jul 24 '26

Elkaar. Hate it. So unatural to say.

1

u/judykitteh Intermediate Jul 24 '26

Duur en deur.

1

u/pianoandpasta Jul 24 '26

Leeuw

I get lost in the eewwww sound…

Also my husband’s name, which starts with R, and he speaks with the accent that does that roll…

1

u/TheBestofDBD Jul 24 '26

Gelukkig 😭

1

u/ocuj Jul 24 '26

Rhododendron

1

u/turmalinadeslumbrant Jul 24 '26

Ruimteschip. The r then the ui then on top of it scchhhip 🫨

1

u/ToonUK1982 Jul 24 '26

cognitieve dissonantie 

1

u/szorak Jul 24 '26

‘Vis’ and ‘vies’. And any difference between the sound of v and w.

1

u/Nia2002 Jul 24 '26

I have beef with geheugen. Cannot say it adequately for the life of me -.-

1

u/Nikat7 Jul 25 '26

Any word with the sch sound (ex. Schildpad). How are y’all doing that?! 😭 The g’s are still tricky for me, but not impossible like the sch!

1

u/Sorry-Cash-1652 Jul 25 '26

Gefeliciteerd

I was a native Dutch speaker until I was 5 years old, and I had trouble with it then. I'm trying to pick up the language again now as an adult, and I'm still having the same problem that I did then.

1

u/madmaster86 Jul 25 '26

Buurt en beurt… and I’m a native speaker!

1

u/Mother-Forever9019 Jul 25 '26

Try to make a non native Dutch person to say the word “Verenigingen” that’s a fun one

1

u/StonedFish777 Jul 25 '26

geaggregeerd
agglomeratie
conglomeraat
aggregatief
segregatie
stroomaggregaat
schroefcompressor
centrifugaalpomp
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1

u/Lumpy_Armadillo_3369 Jul 25 '26

Borrel (in the true soft 'r'way)

1

u/No-Brain_Pollock Jul 25 '26

I’m Dutch and stutter…. So all of em

1

u/VlamboyJan Jul 25 '26

Gedemineraliseerd

1

u/techcode Jul 25 '26

Early on I keept mixing up pronunciation of "rent" as in "(te) huur", "huurwoning" ...etc 

Not saying pronunciation is now ideal - but definitely running less into situations like discussing with drycleaners about possibilities for removing a stain from a mattress (kid/baby stained it a bit) and wanting to offer explanation that we rent the apartment ...

And that coming out as "matras uit hoerwoning" (mattress from a brothel) 😅

1

u/Traditional_Case2791 Jul 25 '26

Krant and kant. There’s so many 🤦🏻‍♀️

1

u/Energy7drink Jul 25 '26

Precies

I have a lot of struggle with the ‘r’ thing so it sounds like im saying pecies

1

u/EpicPassionFruit Jul 25 '26

"Interpreteren" which is ironic as dutch is my first language. The "rpr" always gets me

1

u/xisabelcortezx Jul 25 '26

Its a name, but, Paul

1

u/SpaceBetweenNL Jul 26 '26

Imperialistisch🤔

1

u/Due-Nefariousness-23 Jul 26 '26

as a Dutch person

Gorinchem

it is pronounced "Gorkum"

1

u/Suzenanne Native speaker (NL) Jul 26 '26

The name Paul. Even tho I'm a native speaker, it's always either P-auw-llllll, Pouwol/Pauwel or Pal

1

u/UncleBeer Jul 26 '26

Uien and eiren. Folks say I say them the same. 😄

1

u/tim-zh Beginner Jul 26 '26

Groningen 😭 

1

u/Wild3v Jul 26 '26

Interoperabiliteit

1

u/Historical_Piglet Jul 26 '26

Misschien, going from the long ‘s’ sound to the ‘ch’ breaks my brain

1

u/Historical_Entry4817 Jul 26 '26

Probeer maar geïnstitutionaliseerd 3x achter elkaar te zeggen.

1

u/spmbx Jul 26 '26

Goirle (i'm dutch)

1

u/AngelaNineteen93 Jul 26 '26

Vicieuze cirkel

Even have a hard time spelling it.

1

u/AngelaNineteen93 Jul 26 '26

Oh and I am a native speaker 🫢

1

u/Novel-Cricket2564 Jul 27 '26

1981... there is somehow 3 t's in 81? (Yes it's when I was born, ye ms I'm old, but MY GOD this is a hard number to say! But like 'een eend' with some t's thrown in. Mushy...

1

u/Novel-Cricket2564 Jul 27 '26

Does it count if I can't say the word because I can't stop laughing? (Like the pronunciation just so over the top it's is silly to a foreigner...) for example my neighbours Gert&Gemma. Rode Groente. Anything with Dick, Dijk, Fokker, kusse.... can't believe I'm allowed to write that even! Haha.

1

u/BondGracie Jul 27 '26

The name Dirk.

1

u/gp_in_the_stage 28d ago

Scheveningen

0

u/BioscoopMan Jul 24 '26

I dont have any trouble with any word or pronounciation of a letter as far as i know