Open and closed syllables: woon - wonen?

Dutch has short vowels and long vowels, and the difference changes the meaning of a word.

Short · Long

• de man (man) · de maan (moon) · a / aa
• de pen (pen) · de peen (carrot) · e / ee
• de zon (sun) · de zoon (son) · o / oo
• de bus (bus) · het vuur (fire) · u / uu

In a short, one-syllable word: one letter = short vowel, two letters = long vowel. The long i is always written ie (de vis is short, vies is long).

Split a word into syllables (lettergrepen):

• A closed syllable ends in a consonant: man, woon, zit.
• An open syllable ends in a vowel: *wo-*nen, *ma-*ken, *bo-*men.

When splitting, one consonant between two vowels goes to the next syllable: wo-nen, ma-ken, ra-men. Two consonants are split between the syllables: man-nen, zit-ten, kin-de-ren.

At the end of an open syllable, a vowel is automatically long. So aa, ee, oo, uu lose a letter when the syllable opens up.

Closed (two letters) · Open (one letter) · English

• ik woon · wo-nen · to live
• ik maak · ma-ken · to make
• de boom · de bo-men · tree(s)
• de straat · de stra-ten · street(s)
• de week · de we-ken · week(s)
• het uur · de u-ren · hour(s)

A short vowel needs a consonant behind it. When you add -en, you double the consonant so the first syllable stays closed. The other way round, a word never ends in a double consonant.

One syllable · Two syllables · English

• de man · de man-nen · man / men
• de kat · de kat-ten · cat(s)
• het bed · de bed-den · bed(s)
• ik zit · zit-ten · to sit
• ik bak · bak-ken · to bake
• ik stop · stop-pen · to stop

Now compare: de bomen (trees, long o) and de bommen (bombs, short o). One letter, a different word.

For the present tense you need the stem: the infinitive minus -en. Then fix the spelling with the two rules, and remember that Dutch words never end in v or z.

Infinitive · ik-form · jij / hij / zij · Rule

• wonen · ik woon · woont · long o: double
• maken · ik maak · maakt · long a: double
• eten · ik eet · eet · long e: double (no extra t)
• zitten · ik zit · zit · one t at the end
• leggen · ik leg · legt · one g at the end
• leven · ik leef · leeft · v → f, a word never ends with a v
• lezen · ik lees · leest · z → s, a word never ends with a z
• verhuizen · ik verhuis · verhuist · z → s

• The vowel combinations ie, oe, eu, ui, ei, ij, ou, au stay the same: de deur → de deuren, de tuin → de tuinen, zoeken → ik zoek.
• ee at the very end of a word stays double, otherwise you would read it as a weak "uh" sound: de zee, twee, de thee.
• ch is never doubled: lachen → ik lach.
• A few nouns have a short vowel in the singular and a long one in the plural, they can be viewed as exceptions to the rules. Examples: de dag → de dagen, de weg → de wegen, het glas → de glazen. The spelling follows the new sound. See our article on plurals.

Wrong · Right · Why

• ik won in Utrecht · ik woon · Closed syllable: long o needs oo.
• woonen · wonen · Open syllable: one o is enough.
• ik zitt · ik zit · No double consonant at the end of a word.
• de manen (for men) · de mannen · Short a: double the n. Manen are moons.
• ik leev · ik leef · No v at the end of a word.
• ik lez · ik lees · z → s, and long e needs ee.
• de weeken · de weken · Open syllable: one e.
• ik lachch / lachchen · ik lach / lachen · ch is never doubled.