Exercise 7: spelling 'ei' or 'ij'

This sound is used in words like reizen (travel), mijn (my) and rijk (now).

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 British English sound ‘a’ as in ‘cat’. Drop your jaw even further. Your mouth should really be open and should feel ‘firm’. This is the starting position of the sound (picture 1). Then, gradually, close your mouth (and continue making a sound), and move your tongue upwards in order to almost end in the Dutch sound ie, which is similar to the French sound 'ui' in the French word 'suis'. Make sure your cheeks are far apart and end in a grin (picture 2).
So it is a rather complex sound which involves a movement of the mouth in a broad range of positions.

Now you should be able to pronounce the sound ei.

! Please note that words ending in lijk are pronounced as the sound in exercise 6.

Practise the following words:

1. blij
2. zijn
3. kijken
4. beide

Pronounce: ei (start)

Pronounce: ei (end)