German is more phonetically compatible language than English. This means that the German words almost always sound like the spell- with consistent sounds for any given spelling. It is always important that you should know how the German Pronunciation works (e.g., the German ei — as in nein — spelling is always sounded EYE, whereas German ie — as in Sie — always has the ee sound.) In German, rare exceptions are usually foreign words from English, French or other languages
Any German student should learn the sounds associated with some spelling as soon as possible. To know them, you should be able to pronounce even the German words correctly, which you have never seen. Before the start, it is always advisable that you should know all the German Alphabets, follow the link below
The German Alphabet and its Pronunciation
Now that you know how to the alphabets sound in German Pronunciation, let’s talk about some terminology. It is helpful to know, for instance, what diphthongs and paired consonants are.
The Complete Guide to Learn German Pronunciation
German Diphthongs
A Diphthongs (comes from the Greek word di which means two + phthongos which means sound or voice) a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another (as in coin, loud, and side).
An example would be the au combination. The diphthong au in German always has the sound OW, as in English “ouch.” The au is also part of the German word autsch, which is pronounced almost the same as “ouch” in English.
Here are more examples of German Diphthongs:
| Diphthongs | ||
| Diphthong Double Vowels |
Aussprache Pronunciation |
Beispiele / Examples |
| ai / ei | eye | bei (at, near), das Ei (egg), der Mai (May) |
| au | ow | auch (also), das Auge (eye), aus (out of) |
| eu / äu | oy | Häuser (houses), Europa (Europe), neu (new) |
| ie | eeh | bieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you) |
Grouped or Paired Consonants in German
German also has many common grouped or paired consonants that have a consistent pronunciation as well. An example of this would be st, a very common combination of the consonants s and t, found in many German words.
In standard German, the st combination at the beginning of a word is always pronounced like scht and not like the st found in English “stay” or “stone.” So a German word such as Stein (stone, rock) is pronounced schtine, with an initial sch-sound, as in “show.”
Here are more examples of paired consonants:
| Grouped Consonants | ||
| Buchstabe Consonant |
Aussprache Pronunciation |
Beispiele / Examples |
| ck | k | dick (fat, thick), der Schock (shock) |
| ch | >> | After a, o, u and au, pronounced like the guttural ch in Scottish “loch” – das Buch(book), auch (also). Otherwise it is a palatal sound as in: mich (me), welche (which),wirklich (really). TIP: If no air is passing over your tongue when you say a ch-sound, you aren’t saying it correctly. No true equivalent in English. – Although ch doesn’t usually have a hard k sound, there are exceptions: Chor,Christoph, Chaos, Orchester, Wachs (wax) |
| pf | pf | Both letters are (quickly) pronounced as a combined puff-sound: das Pferd (horse), derPfennig. If this is difficult for you, an f sound will work, but try to do it! |
| ph | f | das Alphabet, phonetisch – Some words formerly spelled with ph are now spelled with f:das Telefon, das Foto |
| qu | kv | die Qual (anguish, torture), die Quittung(receipt) |
| sch | sh | schön (pretty), die Schule (school) – The German sch combination is never split, whereas sh usually is (Grashalme, Gras/Halme; but die Show, a foreign word). |
| sp / st | shp / sht | At the start of a word, the s in sp/st has a sch sound as in English “show, she.” sprechen(speak), stehen (stand) |
| th | t | das Theater (tay-AHTER), das Thema (TAY-muh), topic – Always sounds like a t (TAY). NEVER has the English th sound! |
German Pronunciation Pitfalls
Once you have mastered diphthongs and grouped consonants, the next thing to note is how to pronounce other letters and letter combinations found within the German words, for example, at the end of a German word ” D “is usually a hard “t “sound in German, not English’s soft “D“sound.
Apart from this, the fact is that English and German words are often identical or similar in spelling can lead to pronunciation errors
| Letters in Words | ||
| Spelling | Aussprache Pronunciation |
Beispiele / Examples |
| final b | p | Lob (LOHP) |
| final d | t | Freund (FROYNT), Wald (VALT) |
| final g | k | genug (guh-NOOK) |
| silent h | – | gehen (GAY-en), sehen (ZAY-en) |
| When h follows a vowel, it is silent. When it precedes a vowel (Hund), the h is pronounced. | ||
| German th | t | Theorie (TAY-oh-ree) |
| German v | f | Vater (FAHT-er) |
| In some foreign, non-Germanic words with v, the v is pronounced as in English: Vase (VAH-suh), Villa (VILL-ah) | ||
| German w | v | Wunder (VOON-der) |
| German z | ts | Zeit (TSITE), like ts in “cats”; never like an English soft z (as in “zoo”) |
Similar Words: German Pronunciation Pitfalls
| Similar Words Pronunciation Pitfalls |
||
| Wort Word |
Aussprache Pronunciation |
Comments |
| Bom be bom b |
BOM-buh | The m, b, and e are all heard |
| Genie genius |
zhuh-NEE | The g is soft, like the s sound in “leisure” |
| Nation nation |
NAHT-see-ohn | The German –tion suffix is pronounced TSEE-ohn |
| Papier paper |
pah-PEER | Stress on the last syllable |
| Pizza pizza |
PITS-uh | The i is a short vowel because of the double z |
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