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- "Een man"
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According to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Dutch, the "ee" sequence should make the [e:] sound (in IPA) like the long „eh“ vowel sound in German „Ehe“. Is Dutch „een" an exception because it is such a commonly used word? Are there any more such exceptions?
Yes, there are weak and strong forms in Dutch, just like in English.
Words that are pronounced with a weak form are pronounced with a schwa (the sound in een, en de...) (many unstressed syllables are actually pronounced with a schwa, as in English, but I don't want to drive you insane).
In the case of een, the difference in pronunciation is in order to be able to distinguish the indefinite article een (a/an) from number één (one).
In other cases, the use of strong/weak forms has to do with stresss placement (emphasis).
The nice thing about Dutch (when compared to English) is that the use of weak/strong forms is mostly signalled through spelling (ee/éé, e/ij, respectively, for instance).
Hope this helps and that I was clear enough.
You're most welcome :)
I only regret you got this reply almost a year after you posted your question :(
I typed "En man" instead of "Een man" and it was marked incorrect instead of a misspelling. Just curious what the connotation of "En man" would be instead, or if it means anything at all?
I have this doubt between when to use "De man" or "Een man". Can someone help me?
PS.: Im Portuguese native so if some one that is Portuguese and understands even better my doubt plz answer too :)
"De man" means "the man." "Een man" means "a man." Hope this helped! :)
Ola Rafael,
De man= o homem
Een man= um homem
If you say de man, then you're referring to a man in particular, but if you say een man, then it can be any man.
