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The Dutch alphabet has 26 letters, five or six of which are vowels. The alphabet used for the Dutch language is the Latin alphabet.
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| Letter | Letter name | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| A | /a/ | /a/ or /ɑ/ |
| B | /be:/ | /b/ or /p/ [1] |
| C | /se:/ | /k/ or /s/ |
| D | /de:/ | /d/ or /t/ [1] |
| E | /e:/ | /e/, /ɛ/ or /ə/ |
| F | /ɛf/ | /f/ |
| G | /χe:/ |  : /χ/,  : /ʝ/[2] |
| H | /ɦa/ | /ɦ/ |
| I | /i/ | /i/, /ɪ/, /ə/ or /j/[3] |
| J | /je:/ | /j/ |
| K | /ka/ | /k/ |
| L | /ɛɫ/ | l[4] or /ɫ/[5] |
| M | /ɛm/ | /m/ |
| N | /ɛn/ | /n/ |
| O | /o:/ | /o/ or /ɔ/ |
| P | /pe:/ | /p/ |
| Q[6] | /ky/ | /k/ |
| R | /ɛɹ/ | /r/[7] or /ɹ/[5] (allophonic) |
| S | /ɛs/ | /s/ |
| T | /te:/ | /t/ |
| U | /y/ | /y/, /ʏ/ or /ʋ/[8] |
| V | /ve:/ | /v/ or /f/ [1] |
| W | /ʋe:/ | : /ʋ/[9] or /w/[10],  : /w/ |
| X[6] | /ɪks/ | /ks/ |
| Y[6] | /ɛɪ/[11] | /ɪ/, /i/ or /j/ |
| Z | /zɛt/ | /z/ |
The digraph IJ is sometimes considered to be a separate letter (usually replacing, placed before or together with Y).
"E" is the mostly frequently used letter in the Dutch alphabet, usually representing a schwa sound. The least frequently used letters are "Q", "X", and "Y".
The vowels are:
"Y" is sometimes, but not always, a vowel.[12]
When a vowel is followed by another vowel, this combination usually represents a long vowel (aa, ee, ie, oe, oo, uu)[13] or a diphthong (ai, au, ei, eu, ou, ui, aai, eeu, ieu, oei, ooi). [14]
When one of these letter combinations should not be pronounced together (phonological diaeresis), a trema is placed upon the first vowel of the next syllable. A trema is not used if the letters do not normally form a combination. For instance, a trema is added in ruïne (ruin) because otherwise ui would be pronounced as a diphthong. It is also added in beëdigen (to swear in) because otherwhise ee would form a long vowel. It is not added in beamen (to confirm) because ea can only be pronounced as e + a and not in any other way.[15]
When the vowels are not immediately adjacent (e.g. when the word is split by a hyphen at the end of a line) there is no ambiguity so the trema is not added.
A trema can be seen on any vowel except for ij and y, because combinations of vowels preceded or followed by either of these are never ambiguous.
Unlike in some other languages, a vowel with a trema stays the same letter: ä, ë, ï, ö and ü do not have separate places in the alphabet.
When necessary, Dutch speakers may use a conventional spelling alphabet for spelling words aloud (with slight variations from speaker to speaker):[16]
The NATO phonetic alphabet is also used, and sometimes the two are even mixed.