Exercise 7: spelling 'uu' or 'u'

This sound is used in words like duur (expensive), huren (rent) and nu (now).

Pronunciation:

There is no equivalent sound in British English. It slightly resembles the vowel sound in the British English word ‘do’. Start saying the ‘o’ in the word ‘do’. In order to pronounce the Dutch uu sound you should raise your tongue and purse your lips a little. Furthermore, the sides of your tongue touch your upper teeth. Your mouth should be open only a little bit. It is a relatively short sound. For some people it may be helpful to think of the 'u' in the French word 'jus'.

Now you should be able to pronounce the sound uu.

Practise the following words:

1. kuur
2. muziek
3. duren
4. nu

Pronounce: uu