Dutch (Nederlands) Typing Tests
Practice typing in Dutch (Nederlands) with timed tests from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. Real native vocabulary, instant results. No sign-up required.
About Dutch (Nederlands)
Dutch (Nederlands) is spoken by approximately 24 million people, primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium (where it is known as Flemish). It is closely related to German and English — Dutch sits between the two linguistically and many words are recognisable to speakers of either. It is also the basis of Afrikaans, spoken in South Africa. Dutch has approximately 5 million second-language speakers worldwide.
Special Characters
Dutch uses the standard 26-letter Latin alphabet. Diacritical marks are used but not as heavily as in French or German: é (acute, for emphasis or in loanwords), ë (diaeresis, to split vowels), ï (diaeresis), ij (the Dutch digraph, sometimes written as a single character ij). The digraph 'ij' functions as a single vowel sound and is one of the defining features of Dutch orthography. When capitalised, both letters are capitalised: IJ.
How to Type Dutch Characters
Most Dutch text can be typed on a standard QWERTY keyboard without special characters. For é and ë, use the US International layout dead keys: ' + e for é, " + e for ë. On Mac, hold Option+e then e for é, or Option+u then e for ë. The digraph 'ij' is typed as two separate letters i and j — there is no need for the special ij character in everyday typing.
Typing Tips for Dutch
Common Dutch words: en (and), in, de/het (the), een (a), van (of/from), op (on), met (with), voor (for), aan (at/to), maar (but), ook (also), niet (not), zijn (to be/are), hebben (to have). The word 'de' is used for masculine and feminine nouns, 'het' for neuter — this is a major learning hurdle but less of a typing challenge. Long compound words are common, similar to German: ziekenhuis (hospital), vliegtuig (airplane). The 'ij' digraph appears constantly.