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- Topic: Dutch >
- "Pasta is geen fruit."
39 Comments
Same way. "geen" can be thought of as the negative form of the indefinite article.
i have question: how can i say that cat is not dog? De kat is geen de hond or Kat is geen hond?
Well, is the r like the Spanish r or the German r? I feel Spanish r when it says "fruit" and "bord", and German r when it says "rijst" and "brood". This is when I'd really like a lessen on alphabet :/
The Spanish "r" is the alveolar trill. The Dutch "r" is the velar/uvular fricative.
Haha if you listen to the IPA pronounctians too often it makes you laugh :D However it was very helpful - thanks :)
You can choose, actually! What you think is easier for you. Some speakers use a Spanish-like R, but shorter. Otherwise, you'll hear a German-like R, also less hard and shorter.
I can't roll my r's at all, will that effect other peoples understand of me? For instance, will there be words that change depending on how the r is pronounced?
The pronunciation of R varies considerably from dialect to dialect and even between speakers in the same dialect area:
- An alveolar trill [r], with the alveolar tap [ɾ] as a common allophone. (aka Spanish R)
- The uvular trill [ʀ], found particularly in the central and southern dialect areas. Syllable-finally, it may be debuccalized to [ɐ], much as in German. This is more common in the (south)eastern areas (Limburg, southeast Brabantian, Overijssel). (aka German R)
- The coastal dialects of South Holland produce a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] (aka French R), which causes it to merge with a uvular /ɣ/ and (if devoicing occurs) with /x/. In these dialects, schijven ('discs') and schrijven ('to write') are homophones.
- The retroflex approximant [ɻ] or "bunched approximant" is found at the end of a syllable by some speakers in the Netherlands, especially those from the Randstad, but not in Belgium. Its use has been increasing in recent years. In the Leiden dialect it is used everywhere in a word. (+- English R)
Conclusion: Don't worry if you can't roll your r's. Try the German or French one instead, if that's easier for you. :)
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I know someone (Dutch person) who can't roll his r's either, and I have no problem understanding him at all. I don't roll my r's always either, so I don't think you have to worry about it.
why is it pasta is not fruit its supposed to be pasta is not "a" fruit this one wrong
Different languages, even ones that are closely related like English and Dutch, have different rules and different conventions. Translation is never about one-to-one word swaps.
Two times getting "Pasta is not a fruit" in one lesson, I think they're trying to drive a point lol XD
