дж / дз

The Digraphs ДЖ and ДЗ

Level 1Sounds Like dž í dz

Дж sounds like "j" in "jam" and дз like "ds" in "kids", said as one sound. Each is written with two letters: джэм (jam), дзякуй (thanks), дзверы (door).

How It Works

Two letters, one sound

  • дз [dz] or soft [dzʲ]: дзень (day), дзякуй (thanks), дзверы (door), адзін (one).
  • дж [dʐ]: джэм (jam), джынсы (jeans), дождж (rain), хаджу (I walk).

Дж is always hard, like ж, so it is followed by э and ы: джэм, not джем. Many дз words come from a soft д; see Tsekanye and Dzekanye.

The verb alternation дз → дж
Verbs with дз in the stem usually switch to дж in the "I" form:

  • хадзіць (to walk) — я хаджу, ты ходзіш
  • сядзець (to sit) — я сяджу, ты сядзіш
  • вадзіць (to drive, lead) — я ваджу
  • радзіць (to advise) — я раджу

When д + з or д + ж are two sounds
At the border between a prefix and a root, the letters keep their own sounds: падземны (underground) is пад-земны, and аджыць is ад-жыць. These are rare at beginner level.

Examples (6)

  1. Дзякуй за джэм!

    Thanks for the jam!

    Word by Word: Thanks for jam!

    дз and дж are each one sound.

  2. Зачыні, калі ласка, дзверы.

    Please close the door.

    Word by Word: Close, please, door.

  3. Я хаджу ў школу, а сястра ходзіць у дзіцячы садок.

    I go to school, and my sister goes to kindergarten.

    Word by Word: I walk to school, and sister walks to children's garden.

    хаджу (I) has дж; ходзіць (she) has дз.

  4. Я сяджу дома, а ты дзе сядзіш?

    I am sitting at home, and where are you sitting?

    Word by Word: I sit at-home, and you where sit?

  5. Раджу табе пачытаць гэтую кнігу.

    I advise you to read this book.

    Word by Word: Advise-I to-you to-read this book.

    радзіць becomes раджу in the "I" form.

  6. На дварэ дождж.

    It is raining outside.

    Word by Word: On yard rain.

    дождж ends in дж.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping дз in the "I" form of a verb.

    Я сядзю дома.
    Я сяджу дома.

    Verbs like сядзець and хадзіць change дз to дж before the ending -у: сяджу, хаджу.

  • Writing е after дж.

    Я люблю джем.
    Я люблю джэм.

    Дж is always hard, so the "e" sound after it is written э.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

дж / дзLevel 1The Digraphs ДЖ and ДЗ

Learn This First

The digraph дз comes from dzekanye.