Dutch brand names and place names frequently appear in international contexts but are often mispronounced by English speakers. Heineken: English speakers say HY-nih-ken, Dutch pronunciation is HAY-nih-ken (with the Dutch ei/ay sound and the hard Dutch k). Philips: FIL-ips in English, FEE-lips in Dutch (Dutch ie-sound for i in first syllable). Van Gogh: English says van-GOH or van-GOFF; Dutch says fan-CHKOCH (the g is the Dutch hard g, the final gh is also the hard g — it does not sound like English at all).
Place names: Amsterdam — English stresses AM-ster-dam, Dutch has equal stress on all syllables or slightly emphasises the last: am-ster-DAM. Rotterdam — ROT-ter-dam in English, rot-ter-DAM in Dutch. Schiphol (Amsterdam’s airport) — SKHIP-hol, not SHIP-hole. Den Haag (The Hague) — den-HAACH, with the Dutch g. Maastricht — MAAS-tricht, not MAAS-trisht. Delft — DELFT. Groningen — CHKRO-ning-en, all three syllables, hard Dutch g.
Company and brand names: ING (bank) — in Dutch said as ing, one syllable. HEMA (discount store) — HAY-ma. Albert Heijn (supermarket chain) — AL-bert HAYN (the ij in Heijn sounds like Dutch ij/ei). Bol.com — BOL-dot-com. Coolblue — KOOL-bloo. KLM — kah-el-em (the Dutch letters, not the English). Pronouncing Dutch brands correctly signals cultural fluency and is noticed by native speakers. The Van Gogh pronunciation is the most famous test — getting it right always impresses.