from the 100% free Hear Dutch Here Website
Short    The F/V - S/Z Shift in Verbs, Plurals and Adjectives
Dutch words don't end in V or Z. The Dutch mouth is not used to these sounds, they don't come easily to a Dutch person. In Dutch, V and Z are always followed by a vowel or diphthong.
It's probably the same 'setting' that in Dutch B and D at the end of words are pronounced as P and T:   —B   —D.

If removing the ‑EN ending of a verb infinitive would give a stem ending in V or Z, V will change to F or Z will change to S, for instance: blazen click to hear 2 3 'to blow'  [right arrow]  blaas click to hear 2
geven click to hear 2 'to give'  [right arrow]  geef click to hear The Verb Stem in General
The F/V - S/Z Shift in Verbs

A large number of nouns (especially one-syllable nouns) have ‑EN plural endings, adjectives in most cases have an ‑E ending, and the comparative degree has an ‑ER ending.
Many nouns and adjectives ending in a long vowel or diphthong followed by F or S (occasionally LF, LS or NS) will change that F to V or that S to Z when an ‑E, ‑EN or ‑ER ending is added, for instance: (de) brief click to hear 2   [right arrow]   brieven click to hear letter (mail) / letters
(de) schroef click to hear   [right arrow]   schroeven click to hear screw / screws
(de) roos click to hear 2   [right arrow]   rozen click to hear 2 rose / roses
roos / rozen click to hear 2
(het) huis click to hear 2   [right arrow]  huizen click to hear 'house' / 'houses'
lief click to hear   [right arrow]  lieve click to hear dear, sweet
lief / lieve click to hear
vies click to hear   [right arrow]  vieze click to hear 2 3 dirty // bad-tasting
vies / vieze click to hear 2
wijs click to hear [right arrow]  wijzer click to hear wise / wiser Plurals — Adjectives and Adverbs
Comparative and Superlative Degrees
The F/V - S/Z Shift in Plurals and Adjectives

Vowels and Diphthongs, Spelling and Pronunciation
Shorts
email - Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2025. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed, or hotlinked to.
Gij zult niet stelen click to hear 'Thou shalt not steal'