Dutch typing practice
Learn to touch type in Dutch, free in your browser: Smart Lessons in common Dutch words, Dutch classics to type, and the accents and trema on the US-International layout most Dutch typists use.
What you can practise
Smart Lessons in Dutch
Real Dutch words, built around your slowest key. You start on six keys, and Dutch's own letters join as the others come up to speed.
The Dutch alphabet
Every letter in order against the clock, with how to type each Dutch letter on your keyboard.
Typing games in Dutch
Pilot and Spaceship: steer through the gaps or shoot down enemy ships by typing Dutch words.
6 Dutch books
Classic Dutch books, out of copyright, typed a passage at a time.
Dutch letters
Dutch has few letters beyond a to z, but they matter. The acute marks stress, as in "één" (one) against "een" (a); the diaeresis, the trema, splits two vowels into syllables, as in "ideeën", "België", "coördinatie" and "reünie"; and loanwords bring è, as in "crème" and "scène". The ij of "ijs" and "mij" is typed as i then j.
Most Dutch people type on a US keyboard set to US-International; the Dutch layout Windows offers is rarely used, and Flanders mostly types on Belgian AZERTY. On US-International ', ` and " are dead keys: ' then e types é, Shift ' then e types ë. On a Mac, ABC – Extended does the same with Option E, Option ` and Option U. So the table below is also the one for a US or UK keyboard.
On a Dutch, US or UK keyboard
Windows: United States-International · macOS: ABC – Extended · Linux: English (US, intl., with dead keys)
Add it in Windows under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, in macOS under System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources, in Linux under Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources. With it ' and " are dead keys: type a space after one for the mark itself.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| é | 'then E | Option Ethen E | 'then E |
| è | `then E | Option `then E | `then E |
| ë | Shift 'then E | Option Uthen E | Shift 'then E |
| ï | Shift 'then I | Option Uthen I | Shift 'then I |
| ö | Shift 'then O | Option Uthen O | Shift 'then O |
| ü | Shift 'then U | Option Uthen U | Shift 'then U |
Tips for typing Dutch
Shift ' for the trema
The trema is Shift with the ' key, then the vowel. Hold Shift with the left little finger and press ' with the right one; for "ideeën", type i, d, e, e, then Shift ' and e.
Apostrophes before consonants
In "auto's" and "zo'n" the apostrophe comes before a consonant. Windows then types both characters as they are, but Linux turns ' and s into ś and ' and n into ń, so on Linux type a space after ' first.
IJ is two letters, two capitals
Type ij as i then j, both under the right hand. At the start of a sentence or a name both are capitals: "IJsland", "IJmuiden". Keep Shift held with the left little finger for both letters.
Accents for stress
Dutch adds an acute to show stress where it changes the meaning: "één" (one) against "een" (a), "dé" (the one and only), "óf ... óf" (either ... or). With ' as a dead key, that is ' then the vowel, with no extra reach.