Danish — free text-to-speech & real native pronunciation

Danish Sounds Missing in English

Danish Words That Trip People Up

• 🔊hoved hˈoəð The 'd' is pronounced as a soft ð-like sound, not a hard English 'd'.
• 🔊kage kˈajə The 'g' becomes a 'y' glide and the final 'e' is a schwa, not a hard 'g' sound.
• 🔊søster sˈʔœstʔʌ The 'ø' is a front rounded vowel and there are glottal stops before the 's' and 't'.
• 🔊tyve tˈyːw The 'y' is a rounded front vowel and 'v' is pronounced like a 'w'.
• 🔊syv sˈyw The 'y' is a rounded front vowel and the final 'v' sounds like a 'w'.
• 🔊otte ˈʔotə The initial 'o' is short with a glottal stop, and the 'tt' is not doubled in length.
• 🔊ni nˈʔi There is a glottal stop before the 'i', making it sound abrupt rather than smooth.
• 🔊elleve ˈεlʋə The 'll' is a single clear 'l' and 'v' is pronounced like a 'w'.
• 🔊halvtreds halˈtʁɛs the final ds is pronounced [s] with no soft-d [ð]
• 🔊hundrede hˈʔunɐ̯ʌðə The 'h' is aspirated, there is a glottal stop, and the 'd' is a soft ð-like sound.
• 🔊gøre ɡˈœʔʌ The 'g' is a hard 'g', 'ø' is rounded, and there is a glottal stop before the final schwa.
• 🔊bøje bˈʌjə The 'ø' is actually pronounced as a schwa-like sound and 'j' is a 'y' glide.

Hear the Difference

• 🔊bil bˈʔil / 🔊pil pˈʔil Contrasts unaspirated 'b' with aspirated 'p'; English speakers often merge them by adding aspiration to both.
• 🔊hat hˈat / 🔊kat kˈat Contrasts 'h' (aspirated) with 'k' (aspirated); English speakers tend to merge the initial sounds due to similar aspiration.
• 🔊mad mˈað / 🔊mat mˈat Contrasts final soft ð-like sound with a hard 't'; English speakers often pronounce both with a simple 't' or 'd'.
• 🔊sø sˈʔœ / 🔊sy sˈʔy Contrasts front rounded ø with front rounded y; English speakers merge them because both lack direct English equivalents.
• 🔊hus hˈʔus / 🔊hys hˈʔys Contrasts back 'u' with front rounded 'y'; English speakers tend to merge them toward an English 'oo' sound.