Dutch ij vs ei: one sound, two spellings
In modern Dutch, ij and ei are pronounced identically — both are the diphthong [ɛi], an “eh” that glides up towards “ee”. ijs (ice) and eis (demand) sound exactly the same. There is no sound difference to hear; the two spellings are a frozen accident of history. The sound you must keep apart from them is the long ee [eː] of been (leg), which is a different vowel altogether.
How to make the sound
Start from the vowel of English bed or pet [ɛ], then glide upward towards the ee of see [i]. The result is close to the English “ay” in day, but the starting point is more open — you begin lower, at “eh”, not at “ay”.
- Say “eh” as in bed. Jaw slightly open, lips relaxed and unrounded.
- Glide smoothly up towards “ee”, raising the tongue. Do not round the lips at any point.
- Keep it short and single. ij/ei is one quick movement, not two separate vowels.
Compare English bait (starts at “ay”) with Dutch bijt (bites, starts at “eh”). Landing on the English “ay” is understandable but marks a foreign accent; the wider, lower start is what makes it sound Dutch.
Why there are two spellings for one sound
Centuries ago the two were different. ij (once written ii, a long ii) began as a long [iː], while ei was already a diphthong. Over time the long ij diphthongised and drifted until it merged completely with ei. The spelling never caught up. To keep them apart in speech Dutch people call them by nicknames: ij is the lange ij (long ij) and ei is the korte ei (short ei) — names that describe the letters, not any difference in sound.
ee versus ij/ei: the difference that does matter
Learners who ask about the “difference between ee and ij” are usually mixing up two separate questions. ij and ei are one sound. ee (also written as a single e in an open syllable, as in leven) is a different sound: the long, tense vowel [eː], close to the English “ay” of day but steadier and higher, with only a slight glide in Netherlands speech. Confusing ee and ij changes the word:
| ee [eː] | ij/ei [ɛi] |
|---|---|
| leen (lend) | lijn (line) |
| meel (flour) | mijl (mile) |
| reep (bar, strip) | rijp (ripe) |
| weet (know) | wijt (blame) |
| heel (whole, very) | heil (salvation) |
| beet (bite) | bijt (bites) |
| veel (much) | vijl (file, the tool) |
The mouth tells them apart. For ee the jaw is fairly closed and the tongue starts high; for ij/ei the jaw drops open to the “eh” of bed first and only then rises. If your rijp sounds like reep, open your mouth wider at the start. Note also that ee before r is drawn out and often sounds closer to “ih-uh” (meer, lake), which pushes it even further from ij. The full long–short vowel system is on the Dutch vowels page.
Which one do you write?
Because the sound gives you no clue, spelling ij versus ei is something even Dutch native speakers memorise word by word — it is a staple of school spelling tests. There is no fully reliable rule, but a few tendencies help:
- The suffix -lijk (as in gemakkelijk, easy; eigenlijk, actually) are always written with ij — and, notably, pronounced not as [ɛi] at all but as a weak schwa: -lijk = /lək/, “-luhk”. See the note below.
- Many words of French or Latin origin keep ei: trein (train), plein (square), kapitein (captain).
- Verb conjugations from a stem with ij keep ij: blijven → blijf, schrijven → schrijf.
- Otherwise, learn the spelling with the word. There is no shortcut a listener can use.
The ending -lijk is the big pronunciation trap. Despite the ij, it is never said as [ɛi]. natuurlijk (of course) ends in “-luhk” /lək/, waarschijnlijk (probably) has a full [ɛi] in the middle but a schwa -lijk at the end. Reduce it to a mumbled schwa and you will sound far more natural.
Homophones: same sound, different spelling
Because ij and ei sound the same, Dutch has pairs that are pronounced identically and told apart only in writing (or by context). A few classic ones:
| ij-word | ei-word | Both sound like |
|---|---|---|
| wij (we) | wei (meadow / whey) | [ʋɛi] |
| rijst (rice) | reist (travels) | [rɛist] |
| lijden (to suffer) | leiden (to lead) | [ˈlɛidə(n)] |
| mij (me) | mei (May) | [mɛi] |
| pijl (arrow) | peil (level) | [pɛil] |
Context always disambiguates in real speech, so you never need to worry about being misunderstood — only about spelling them correctly.
The curious capital IJ
Dutch treats ij as a single unit, close to being its own letter. The clearest evidence is capitalisation: when a word beginning with ij is capitalised, both letters go up. The lake is IJsselmeer, not “Ijsselmeer”; the river is the IJssel; ice cream at the start of a sentence is IJs. In older handwriting and some fonts the ij is even drawn as a single ligature resembling a y with two dots, which is why you will occasionally see Dutch people write y where you expect ij. In crosswords and when spacing letters vertically, ij often occupies one square.
North and south
The [ɛi] realisation is fairly uniform across the language, but the exact starting point varies. In much of the Netherlands' Randstad the diphthong is pronounced with a noticeably open, lowered start, sometimes drifting towards [ai] (“ah-ee”) in broad city accents. In Flanders (Belgium) and the southern Netherlands it tends to be tighter and more monophthong-like, closer to a long [ɛː] with only a slight glide. Both map onto the same ij/ei spelling and are fully standard.
Practice list
| Dutch | Hint | English |
|---|---|---|
| ijs | [ɛis] | ice / ice cream |
| trein | [trɛin] | train |
| klein | [klɛin] | small |
| wijn | [ʋɛin] | wine |
| vrij | [frɛi] | free |
| blijven | [ˈblɛivə(n)] | to stay |
| eigen | [ˈɛixə(n)] | own |
| tijd | [tɛit] | time |
| gelijk | [xəˈlɛik] | equal / right |
| natuurlijk | [naːˈtyrlək] — final -lijk is schwa | of course |
| IJsselmeer | [ˈɛisəlmeːr] — capital IJ | (lake) |
ij/ei is one of the core Dutch diphthongs; see how it sits beside ui and the others on the diphthongs page, and pair it with the hard g for the two most distinctive Dutch sounds.
Keep going: back to the pronunciation guide, or fit this into the wider plan on the learning roadmap.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce ij in Dutch?
Open your jaw to the “eh” of English bed, then glide smoothly up towards “ee” with unrounded lips. The result, [ɛi], is close to English “ay” in day but starts lower and more open.
How is ei pronounced in Dutch?
Exactly like ij: [ɛi]. ei (egg), trein and klein use the same vowel as ijs and wijn.
Is there a difference in sound between ij and ei?
No. In standard modern Dutch they are pronounced identically, so pairs like mij/mei and lijden/leiden sound the same. The difference is only in spelling, which has to be learned word by word.
What is the difference between ee and ij in Dutch?
They are different sounds. ee is the steady long vowel [eː] with a fairly closed jaw; ij is the diphthong [ɛi] that starts open and glides. Mixing them changes the word: meel (flour) versus mijl (mile), reep (bar) versus rijp (ripe).
Why is -lijk not pronounced like ij?
The suffix -lijk is unstressed and has weakened to a schwa, so natuurlijk and eigenlijk end in “-luhk” /lək/. The spelling kept the old vowel.
Why is IJ capitalised as two letters?
Dutch treats ij as a single unit, so both letters are capitalised at the start of a word: IJsselmeer, IJmuiden, never Ijsselmeer.