Exercise 10: spelling 'ui'

This sound is used in words like buiten (outside), thuis (at home) and suiker (sugar).

Pronunciation:

There is no equivalent sound in British English. This sound is a diphthong (explanation: see exercise 4). To be able to make this sound correctly, start saying the Dutch sound e as in de (see exercise 6). Then lower your mouth an inch. Your tongue automatically lowers too. This is the starting position of the sound (picture 1). Now move your tongue upwards (while producing sound) in order to almost end in the Dutch sound uu, which is similar to the French sound 'u' in the French word 'plus'. So finally your mouth should be pursed and the sides of your tongue should touch your upper teeth (picture 2).
You may have noticed that it is similar to the eu (exercise 8) in that the end position of your mouth and tongue is the same. The starting position, however, is much lower here, so there is a more distinct difference between the starting and end position of the mouth. This results in a movement of the mouth in a broad range of positions.

Now you should be able to pronounce the sound ui.

Practise the following words:

1. buik
2. muis
3. kuiken
4. buizen

Pronounce: ui (start)

Pronounce: ui (end)