Dutch has two completely different ways of writing one and the same vowel sound. The digraph ij (called lange ij, "long ij") and the digraph ei (called korte ei, "short ei") are pronounced identically in standard Netherlands Dutch — both are the diphthong roughly between English "eye" and "ay". Because there is no audible difference, you cannot hear which one a word takes. You have to know it. This page is honest about that: there is no general rule, only a handful of helpful patterns and a list of words to lock in.
The core problem: they are true homophones
When a Dutch person says a word containing this sound, nothing in the pronunciation tells you whether it is spelled with ij or ei. The two are perfect homophones. So the spelling has to be learned word by word, the same way English speakers simply know that it's "their," "there," and "they're" without any sound to guide them.
wijn
wine — spelled with 'ij'. Nothing in the sound tells you that.
rein
clean, pure — spelled with 'ei'. Sounds exactly like the 'ij' in 'wijn'.
A classic demonstration is the near-minimal pairs that differ only in spelling, never in sound:
mij
me (object form) — 'ij'.
mei
May (the month) — 'ei'. 'Mij' and 'mei' are pronounced the same.
Don't assume a rule exists
The single biggest mistake English speakers make is hunting for a pronunciation rule and then "applying" it. There isn't one. Words that look like they should pattern together don't:
blij
happy, glad — 'ij'.
klein
small — 'ei'. Rhymes perfectly with 'blij', but spelled the other way.
vijf
five — 'ij'.
reis
trip, journey — 'ei'. Same vowel sound, opposite spelling.
Because both spellings are everywhere and equally common, guessing gives you roughly a coin-flip. Memorization is the only path to reliability.
The patterns that do help
There are a few endings and word-classes where the spelling is predictable. These are worth learning because they cover a huge number of words.
Suffix -lijk is always 'ij'
The extremely common adjective/adverb suffix -lijk (cognate with English "-ly") is always written with ij, even though it's pronounced as a weak, unstressed -luk.
Het is eigenlijk heel makkelijk.
It's actually really easy. Both 'eigenlijk' and 'makkelijk' end in -lijk → 'ij'.
Natuurlijk kom ik, dat is toch vanzelfsprekend.
Of course I'll come, that goes without saying. 'Natuurlijk' → -lijk → 'ij'.
Suffix -heid is always 'ei'
The noun suffix -heid (forming abstract nouns, like English "-ness" / "-ty") is always written with ei.
De waarheid over zijn vrijheid kwam langzaam aan het licht.
The truth about his freedom slowly came to light. 'Waarheid' and 'vrijheid' → -heid → 'ei' (note 'vrij-' itself takes 'ij').
Note the trap in vrijheid: the root vrij ("free") takes ij, but the suffix -heid still takes ei — so the same word contains both spellings. Learn the root and the suffix separately.
The plural ending -eit in loanwords
Many abstract loanwords from French/Latin end in -teit (English "-ty") and take ei: kwaliteit, universiteit, identiteit, activiteit.
De universiteit hecht veel waarde aan kwaliteit.
The university places great value on quality. '-teit' → 'ei'.
Beyond these endings, you are back to memorization.
Learn the high-frequency words in pairs
The fastest way to stop guessing is to drill the most common everyday words. Group them and memorize them as blocks.
| Written with ij (lange ij) | Written with ei (korte ei) |
|---|---|
| wijn (wine), tijd (time), wijs (wise) | rein (pure), trein (train), reis (trip) |
| blij (happy), vrij (free), mij (me) | klein (small), mei (May), eis (demand) |
| vijf (five), kijken (to look), schrijven (to write) | meisje (girl), ei (egg), brein (brain) |
| zij (she/they), wij (we), hij (he) | geit (goat), leider (leader), keizer (emperor) |
A few worth singling out because learners get them wrong often:
Ik schrijf je een brief over mijn reis.
I'll write you a letter about my trip. 'Schrijf' and 'mijn' take 'ij'; 'reis' takes 'ei'.
Het meisje gaf het ei aan de geit.
The girl gave the egg to the goat. 'Meisje', 'ei' and 'geit' all take 'ei' — a useful cluster to memorize together.
Even natives get this wrong
It's reassuring to know that native Dutch speakers make ij/ei spelling errors too — it's one of the most common spelling mistakes in Dutch, precisely because the ear gives no help. Dutch children spend years drilling specific word lists. So if you find this hard, you are not failing; you are experiencing exactly what the writing system imposes on everyone.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ik drink graag een glas weijn.
Incorrect — 'wine' is spelled 'wijn' with 'ij', not 'ei'.
✅ Ik drink graag een glas wijn.
I like to drink a glass of wine.
❌ We nemen de trijn naar Utrecht.
Incorrect — 'train' is 'trein' with 'ei', not 'ij'.
✅ We nemen de trein naar Utrecht.
We're taking the train to Utrecht.
❌ Dat is eigenlyk heel moeilijk.
Incorrect — the suffix '-lijk' is always 'ij', so it's 'eigenlijk' (and 'moeilijk' is right).
✅ Dat is eigenlijk heel moeilijk.
That's actually really difficult.
❌ Ik waardeer mijn vrijhijd enorm.
Incorrect — the suffix '-heid' is always 'ei': it's 'vrijheid' (root 'vrij' with 'ij', suffix '-heid' with 'ei').
✅ Ik waardeer mijn vrijheid enorm.
I value my freedom enormously.
❌ Het kleine meidje lacht.
Incorrect — 'girl' is 'meisje' with 'ei', and the right spelling here is 'meisje', not 'meidje'.
✅ Het kleine meisje lacht.
The little girl is laughing.
Key Takeaways
- ij and ei are pronounced identically in standard Dutch — there is no sound rule, so you cannot hear which to write.
- Spelling is per word: memorize each one, the way English speakers just know "their/there/they're".
- Reliable patterns: suffix -lijk is always ij; suffix -heid and loanword ending -teit are always ei.
- Watch the mixed words like vrijheid (root vrij = ij, suffix -heid = ei).
- Drill the common pairs (wijn/trein, blij/klein, mij/mei) as memorized blocks — guessing is a coin-flip.
Now practice Dutch
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- Writing IJ vs EI and AU vs OUB1 — Dutch's two great homophone spelling problems: ij (lange ij) and ei (korte ei) sound identical, as do au and ou, so the choice is lexical, not phonetic — there is no pronunciation rule, only a handful of reliable morphemes and high-frequency words to memorise.
- Common Mistakes English Speakers Make: OverviewA2 — A map of the recurring errors English speakers make in Dutch — V2 word-order slips, de/het gender, niet vs geen, false friends, the hebben/zijn auxiliary, omdat vs want order, and English calques like do-support and the progressive. Each is previewed with a one-line example and linked to its dedicated page.
- Mistake: The -dt Spelling (wordt, vindt, gebeurd)B1 — The most notorious spelling trap in Dutch — even natives slip. For verbs whose stem ends in -d, the hij/jij present tense is stem + t (word + t = wordt), the ik-form is bare stem (word), inversion before je drops the -t (word je?), and the past participle -d (gebeurd) must not be confused with the present -t (gebeurt). This page builds the rule from the ground up and drills every trap.
- Mistake: Nog vs NochB2 — 'Nog' (still / yet / another) and 'noch' (nor) look and sound almost the same but mean completely different things. 'Nog' is an everyday word; 'noch' is a formal correlative ('noch ... noch ...' = neither ... nor) that is already negative. This page drills the difference.