# Uitspraak: Silent "n"



## vermillionxtears

Goedendag! 

Whenever I listen to something in Dutch, I become increasingly frustrated with words ending in -en.
For instance, this sentence:
_Ik moet mijn moeder antwoorden._
For some reason, there seems to be NO "n" pronounced in _antwoorden_.
Is this an actual occurrence, or am I just not listening correctly?
Perhaps in standard Dutch an "n" at the end of a word is just pronounced very softly?

Ik weet het niet, maar dank jullie. xD


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## Lopes

First, _a*n*twoorden_ has 2 n's  

Second, the final n in verbs and plurals is not pronounced (except for the verbs _zijn, doen, zien_and _gaan_ and forms like Ik _ben_, because the accent is placed on the syllable with the _n_ in these words). 

Some 10 years ago we still used to write 'pannekoeken' without the 'tussen-n', but for some reason they've changed that. 

Third, I've never really studied Dutch grammar, so it's possible that I've forgotten some things now.. But that will be corrected, I'm sure


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## Svenshinhan

Well, it's like this:

Technically, you're supposed to pronounce the -n in 'antwoorden', but nowadays hardly anyone does it anymore. So the "antwoorde" you hear is just a common Dutch speech pattern. Almost everyone does it.

Lopes is right on the exceptions. Goes for all monosyllabic words, really, as well as polysyllabic words where stress is on the final syllable ('tele*foon'* for example). In those cases you have to pronounce the -n, or it will change the meaning of the word in many cases ('zijn' - to be, becomes 'zij' - she, for instance).

The reason we do this is just to speed up our speech. Ease of articulation, really. But for second language learners it can be very annoying, especially if you're a beginner and don't know how all the words are spelled. It's just an annoyance you're gonna have to get used to.


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## vermillionxtears

Yes, I suppose so.
I will admit that it adds a rhythmitic effect to the speech, but this being my third language, I have an itch to say the n at the end.



> First, _a*n*twoorden_ has 2 n's


I'm sorry, I meant to put final n. 

I'll take it as a rule that, in an unstressed syllable ending in _n_, that _n_ is ignored.

Danke jullie weer. ^^


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## Lopes

Svenshinhan said:


> Goes for all monosyllabic words, really, as well as polysyllabic words where stress is on the final syllable ('tele*foon'* for example).







vermillionxtears said:


> I'll take it as a rule that, in an unstressed syllable ending in _n_, that _n_ is ignored.



Well, I thought it was with final _n_'s after a "stomme" _e_, so it doesn't count for composed words like 'lúchtballon' (but maybe, because they are composed words, they don't count anyway)


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## Svenshinhan

I don't think compounds suffer the same 'silent n', like Lopes said. If you take 'luchthaven' (lucht + haven), I think most, if not all people, WOULD pronounce the -n.

Thing is, there are no official rules regarding this, so it's a bit difficult to explain.

When in doubt, just pronounce the -n, eventually you'll get a grasp of when it's possibly to keep it silent.


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## Lopes

Svenshinhan said:


> I don't think compounds suffer the same 'silent n', like Lopes said. If you take 'luchthaven' (lucht + haven), I think most, if not all people, WOULD pronounce the -n.



That's what I was saying, no? (Or are you not disagreeing?  )


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## Svenshinhan

No, I'm not disagreeing, I just wanted to give another example to show that there are no clear "rules" for this speech pattern


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## Joannes

'middag allemaal,



Svenshinhan said:


> Technically, you're supposed to pronounce the -n in 'antwoorden', but nowadays hardly anyone does it anymore.


Actually, you're not: take a look here, here and more extensively here (under n).



Svenshinhan said:


> I don't think compounds suffer the same 'silent n', like Lopes said. If you take 'luchthaven' (lucht + haven), I think most, if not all people, WOULD pronounce the -n.


So you would _not_ pronounce the final /n/ in *haven* but you _would_ pronounce the one in *luchthaven*?! I wouldn't, and I'm pretty sure that's standard.



vermillionxtears said:


> I'll take it as a rule that, in an unstressed syllable ending in _n_, that _n_ is ignored.


Please don't, this is the 'rule', I'll try to translate, just in case:


> In spoken Dutch one can omit the final /n/ in case it is preceded by an unstressed <e> (a _shwa_ /ə/): *kerke(n)*, *opene(n)*, etc. If the following word begins with a vowel, the final /n/ is usually pronounced, as a linking consonant: *we openen een fles*. You should also pronounce the final /n/ with verbs the stem of which ends in *-en* in the present tense of the first person singular: *ik teken*, *ik open*, etc. While reciting texts, speakers tend to pronounce the final /n/ systematically - influenced by the spelling. This can bring about an unnatural reading style.


 
Paardenkooper's explanation is more detailed - I hope you understand it.



vermillionxtears said:


> Danke jullie weer. ^^


*Danke* is German.  Note, by the way, that *dank jullie* sounds a bit odd, it is not as idiomatic as *dank je* or *dank u*. *Dank jullie wel* works better - no idea why.. (And of course there's always *bedankt*, which works regardless of the number or status of interlocutors. )


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## vermillionxtears

> Please don't, this is the 'rule', I'll try to translate, just in case:


Thank you _very_ much; this was extremely helpful.
(I'm just a beginner, so thanks for translating it as well.  I wouldn't have understood much.)



> *Danke* is German.  Note, by the way, that *dank jullie* sounds a bit odd, it is not as idiomatic as *dank je* or *dank u*. *Dank jullie wel* works better - no idea why.. (And of course there's always *bedankt*, which works regardless of the number or status of interlocutors. )


BEDANKT. xD
_Danke_ was a typo. I'm very used to typing in German as opposed to Dutch, so it's sometimes difficult to spell things correctly.
Also very helpful.


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## Uticens678

Hi everybody! I have the following question: are final "n" silent even when they are plural endings? Thank you in advance!


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## Deleted721968

Joannes said:


> Paardenkooper's explanation is more detailed - I hope you understand it.



Incidentally, and probably off-topic, I use Paardekooper's ABN-uitspraakgids intensively, but I think his idea of pronunciation is a bit too extreme towards the colloquial style or probably obsolete. For example, he advocates dropping the "d" in between consonants in all occasions (example: goeje vs goede, houwen vs houden and so on), which is something you don't hear often on tv or radio but only in very colloquial and informal circumstances.

I have noticed, but I could be wrong, that speakers of the VRT "Het Journaal" almost always make an effort of pronouncing the final -en, at least senior presenters like Martine Tanghe.


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## Red Arrow

ottaviocr said:


> I have noticed, but I could be wrong, that speakers of the VRT "Het Journaal" almost always make an effort of pronouncing the final -en, at least senior presenters like Martine Tanghe.


Martine Tanghe's original dialect rarely drops final -n.


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