Script guide › Latin
How to recognize Dutch
Dutch is one of 35 languages in Grafle's Latin group. Here's what it looks like, where you'll see it on signs, and how to tell it apart from its lookalikes.
Spot it fast
- The ij pair (vrij, gelijk) and double vowels (aa, ee, oo).
- Little words het, een, van, met appear constantly.
What Dutch looks like
Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid geboren.
Fijne dag! Hoe gaat het met je?
Wie zijn billen brandt, moet op de blaren zitten.
Latin scripts: The alphabet you're reading now. Each language gives itself away by its own special letters and accent marks.
Where you'll see it on signs
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Suriname
Easy to confuse with
- German — German Capitalizes Every Noun and writes umlauts and ß; Dutch runs on the ij pair (vrij, gelijk, tijd).
- Afrikaans — Afrikaans is stripped-down Dutch: it writes y where Dutch writes ij (vry vs vrij), and the standalone 'n is the giveaway.