*§±111

hapter

German
Pronunciation
In this chapter you will learn how to pronounce the Germ an alphabet and use
its special characters. You will discover the sounds of individual letters and how
they differ w hen combined w ith other letters.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
In this chapter you will learn about:
• German Alphabet
• Special Characters
• Consonant Combinations
• Vowel Combinations
• Some Special Pronunciation Rules
• German Cognates
 GERMAN DeMYSTlFleD

German Alphabet
There really isn’t a G erm an alphabet ju st like th ere really isn’t an English
alphabet. The Germans do w hat English speakers do: They use the Latin alpha­
bet and add a few extra characters of their own for good measure. T here are
only four extra characters in German, and all th e other letters are the sam e as
used in the English language. However, there is a difference between G erm an
and English pronunciation of the letters.
You m ust rem em ber th at the letters of the alphabet are merely signals of
pronunciation possibilities. In all languages there are nuances of the same sound,
and often one letter stands for all those nuances. Consider the English vowel a. Its
name is ay, but it is pronounced differently in various words. For example: father,
bad, ball, and tape. Unlike a, sometimes the name of a letter gives absolutely no
clue as to its pronunciation, such as the English consonant w. It is called double
u, b u t makes a sound completely different from that. You’ll discover th a t there
are a few instances w hen the German name of a letter does the same thing.
There are various pronunciations for single letters in German as well. Fortu­
nately, they are not as numerous as in English, and, for the most part, German
spelling consistently gives the information needed to pronounce words accurately.
Following is the com plete alphabet w ith the G erm an name of each letter,
th e sound each letter makes, and a sample Germ an w ord using that letter with
its pronunciation and meaning.

Track 1
G erm an Example Word English
Letter Name Sounds Like (G erm an Pronunciation) Meaning
A a ah mama las (lahss) read
Bb bay Bob Boot (bote) boat
Cc tsay its Cent (tsent) cent
Dd day dad dann (dunn) then
Ee ay say Tee (tay) tea
Ff eff fife finden (fin-den) to find
Gg gay goggle geben (gay-ben) to give
Hh hah hope Haus (house) house
It ee keep Igel (ee-gel) hedgehog
Jj yawt yawn ja (yah) yes
 Chapter 1 G E R M A N P R O N U N C I A T I O N

Kk kah kick kalt (kult) cold

LI ell lull Laus (louse) louse
Mm emm mom Maus (mouse) mouse
N n enn noon nein (nine) no
O o oh only oder (oh-duh) or
Pp pay pipe parken (par-ken) to park
Q q koo quite Q uark (kvahrk) curd cheese
[When pronounced in a German word, the k sound of the letter q iis followed by the
v sound.)
Rr air roar Ruhm (room) fame
(There is no English equivalent for this pronunciation of r. See “Some Special
Pronunciation Rules” in this chapter for further explanation.)
Ss ess zealous Sessel (zes-sel) armchair
(At the beginning of a word s is pronounced like a z.)
Tt tay tot Teil (tile) part
U u oo moon U-Bahn (oo-bahn) subway
Vv fow for Volkswagen Volkswagen
(fohlks-vah-gen)
W w vay vivid wild (villt) wild
Xx ix taxi Taxi (tahk-see) taxi
Yy uepsilon mystic physisch (fuez-ish) physical
[W ith this letter, the lips are pursed to say oo, b u t the voice is saying ee. The
result is this special vowel sound ue. For further explanation, see the explana­
tion for 0 ii later in this chapter.)
Z z tset its Zelt (tsellt) tent

Oral Practice
® Track 2
Say each w ord out loud. Look a t the pronunciation on th e right to check your
accuracy.

G erm an English G erm an Pronunciation

1. faul lazy (fowl)
2. Sau sow (zow)
3. M auer wall (mow-uh)
 4. Klsen iron (eye-zen)

5. Meister master (my-stuh)

6. schnell fast (shnell)

7. stellcn to put (shtel-M

8. stcrben to die (shtair-ben)

9. Sitz seat (zits)

10. sitzen to sit (zit-sen)

11. Spiel game (shpeel)

12. spielen to play (shpee-M

13. w iegen to weigh (vee-gen)

14. W agen car (vah-gen)

15. schlagen hit (shlah-gen)

16. Z eit time (tsite)

17. Z im m er room (tsim-muh)

18. D o n n e r thunder (dawn-uh)

19. T anne fir tree (tuh-neh)

20. T ante aunt (tahn-teh)

Special Characters
The next three special characters in the German alphabet have an um laut over
them . These dots over the vowels indicate a shift in the normal pronunciation
o f those letters.
The first letter is very m uch like the letter E e illustrated previously.

Aa ay say spat (shpayt) late

The following lette r does n o t have an English equivalent sound. It is similar
to the vowel e as it is p ronounced in th e English word her. T he letter combina­
tion er will stand for its p ro n u n cia tio n here.

O o er w ere schon (sh e rn ) nice, pretty

The nex t letter is p ro n o u n c e d lik e th e sound oo w ith the lips tightly pursed,
b u t the voice is saying ee. It is t h e s a m e pronunciation for the letter Y y lllus-
 Chapter 1 G E R M A N P R O N U N C I A T I O N

trated previously. The vowel combination ue will stand for its pronunciation.
It is similar to a French u as in sud (south).

U ii ue sure iiber (ue-buh) over

Vowel with Vowel with

Umlaut Sound No Umlaut Sound
Aa ay Aa ah
Oo er Oo oh
U ii ue (like French)
»■
Uu
y
00
T he following letter is a combination of an s and a z treated as a single letter.
It does not have a capitalized form and is used in place of a double s (ss) after
long vowel sounds, and diphthongs.

6 ess-tset less weifi (vice) white

Com pare the use of the 6 following a long vowel and ss following a short
vowel.

afi (ahs—long ah) ate passen (puhs-sen—short uh) to fit

Oral Practice
® Track 3
Say each word out loud. Look at the pronunciation on the right to check your
accuracy.

G erm an English G erm an Pronunciation

1. alter older (el-tuh)
2. fallt falls (fait)
3. lost solves (lerst)
4. bose angry (ber-zeh)
5. Fliisse rivers (flues-eh)
6. klug smart (klook)
7. liigen to lie (lue-gen)
8. groft big (gross)
9. Griifee greetings (grue-seh)
10. Kasse cashier (kuhs-eh)
 G ER M A N D . M Y S T l F l . D

Consonant Combinations
T he following letter com binations stand for a specific sound different from a
single consonant. You will notice that some have an English equivalent.

1. C h stands for th e sound o f the friction of air at the back o f the throat
much like the ch sound in the Scottish word loch. For example: ich
means I and is pronounced eech. The italicized consonants ch will stand
for this sound.
2. Chs in th e m iddle of a w ord is pronounced like English x. For example,
Sachsen means Saxony and is pronounced zahx-en.
3. Ck is pronounced like the English ck. For example, schicken means to
send and is pronounced shick-en.
4. A final g is pronounced as a k or the guttural ch (see N um ber 1, in this
list). For example, klug m eans smart and is pronounced klook. The word
for king is Konig and is pronounced ker-nicA or ker-nik.
5. H that follows a vowel at th e end of a syllable is not pronounced. For
example, gehen means to go and is pronounced gay-en.
6. W ith pf, both th e p and th e f are sounded in the pronunciation. For
example, pfiff m eans whistle and is pronounced pfiff.
7. Sch is like the English combination sh. For example: Schule means
school and is pronounced shoo-leh.
8. Two consonant combinations—sp and st—add the sound sh to their
pronunciation. For example, Sport m eans sports and is pronounced
shport. Still means quiet and is pronounced shtill.
9. Th exists in German, but it is pronounced like a t. For example, the
German noun Theater means theater, b u t it is pronounced tay-ah-tuh.
10. Tsch sounds like th e English combination ch. For example, Tschechien
means Czech Republic and is pronounced checft-ee-en.
11. Tz is pronounced as it is in English. For example, letzte means last and
is pronounced letz-teh.
 Ch a p te r 1 G E R M A N PRO N UN C IA TIO N

Oral Practice
Track 4
Say each word out loud. Look at th e p r o n u n c iiia tio n on the right to check your
accuracy.

German English G erm an P r'o n u n c ia tio n

1 .sprechen to speak (sh p recfe-en )

2. Stadt city (shtaht)

3. setzen to set (zet-zen)

4. schrecken to scare [shreck-en])

5. Thema topic (tay-m ah)

6. Tisch table (tish)

7. Kafig cage (kay-fic/t)

8. sehen to see (zay-en]

9. Pfortner doorman (pfert-nuh^

10. sechs six (zex)

Vowel Combinations ....................

The following vowel combinations stand for a single sound but, in m ost cases,
have a sound different from a single vowel.

1. Aa is pronounced as a long ah. For example, Haar means hair and is

pronounced h a h r.
2. Au is pronounced together as ow. For example, kaufen means to buy
and is pronounced cow-fen.
3. Au is pronounced oi. For example, Fraulein means miss/young lady and
is pronounced froi-line.
4. Ee has a long ay sound. For example, Tee means tea and is pronounced
tay.
5. Ei is pronounced eye. For example, mein means my and is pronounced
mine.
6. Eu is also pronounced oi. For example, Freude means jay and I.
pronounced froi-deh.
lo G E R M A N D .M Y S T 1F 1.D

7. Ie is pronounced ee. For example, sieht means sees and is pronounced zeet.
8. Oo has a long oh sound. For example, Boot means boat and is
pronounced bote.

Oral Practice
® Track 5
Say each word out loud. Look at the pronunciation on the right to check your
accuracy.
English German Pronunciation
German
l.Eule owl (oi-leh)

2. teilen to share (ty-len)

3. schrieb wrote (shreep)

4. Kaufmann businessman (cowf-munn)

5. Seemann seaman (zay-munn)

6. Saule column (zoi-leh)

7. fahrt drives (fairt)

8. Saar the Saar (zahr)

9. Freundin girlfriend (froin-din)

10. Boote boats (bote-eh)

Some Special Pronunciation Rules

The final -e on a German word is pronounced eh. Be careful not to pronounce
it ah or uh. For example, Tante means aunt and is pronounced tahn-teh. Beste
means best and is pronounced bess-teh.
In the German-speaking world of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, there
are two distinct ways of pronouncing r. One way is the rolled r as is heard in
Italian or Russian. The other is the so-called guttural r that is a sound made
near the back of the tongue. In German the guttural sound is used when the
r is located at the beginning of a word. For example, rot means red and is pro­
nounced rote, with a guttural sound distinctly similar to a French r. When this
letter is at the end o f a syllable or word, particularly in the combination er, it
sounds more like uh and does not resemble an r. It is similar to a final r in
British English. For example, Zucker means sugar and is pronounced tsoo-kuh.
 Chapter! GERMAN PRONUNCIATION

W lien a b o r a d is located at the end of a prefix or word, they are pro­

nounced p and t respectively. For example, starb means died and is pronounced
shtahrp. The word abfahren means to depart and is pronounced ahp-Iahr-en.
The noun L an d means country and is pronounced lunt. The word Kind means
child and is pronounced kint.

Short and Lo n g Vowels

Vowels tend to be pronounced short before a double consonant and long before
a single consonant or a consonant preceded by h. Let’s look at some examples.
@ Track 6

German German Pronunciation English

lassen (luhs-sen) long to let
lasen (lah-zen) short read
stehlen [shtay-len] long to steal
stellen (shtel-len) short to put
gib (geep) long give
Mitte [mit-teh] short middle
H of (hofe) long court, yard
hoffen (haw-fenj short to hope
tun (toon] long oo to do
Suppe (zoo-peh] short oo soup

In English the combination oo may look the same in many words, but that
vowel combination has two pronunciations. For example, long oo—moon, soon;
and short oo—look, shook. When learning German, however, English speakers
tend to use the long oo sound for all words that have the vowel u. But the short
and long oo sounds must be distinguished in German, as well.

Oral Practice
® Track 7
Say each word out loud. Look at the pronunciation on the right to check your
accuracy.

German English G erm an Pronunciation

1. storen to disturb (ster-ren)
2. gelacht laughed (gch-lahcfct)
12 GERMAN DtMYSTiFieD

3. Kaffee coffee (kah-fay)

4. Brotchen roll (brert-c/ten)
5. Schlange snake (shlahng-eh)
6. jiinger younger (yueng-uh)
7. floh fled (flow)
8. Spriiche sayings (shpruec/t-eh)
9. gelb yellow (gelp)
10. Band ribbon (bunt)

German Cognates
Cognates are words th at are identical or very similar in two languages. A nd that
can be problematic, because English speakers sometimes pronounce the Ger­
man cognate with th e English pronunciation. Here are some example words
in German w ith their pronunciations and the English equivalents. Take special
Dte of the German pronunciations.

German German Pronunciation English

Auto (ow-toe) auto
Adresse (ah-dres-seh) address
effektiv (ay-feck-teef) effective
Konflikt (kone-flickt) conflict
minus (mee-noos) minus
President (pray-zee-dent) president
Problem (proe-blame) problem
Service (zare-veese) service

Many words that end in -tion in English also do in German. But that syllable
pronounced -tsee-own in German.

Position (poe-zee-tsee-own) position

Konstitution (kone-stee-too-tsee-own) constitution

Perhaps you have already noticed that all German nouns—whether proper
or com m on—are capitalized. Here are a few more examples:
 Chapter 1 G E R M A N P R O N U N C I A f I O N

German German Pronunciation English

Nam e (nah-meh) name
Berlin (bare-leen) Berlin
Kapitalist (kah-pee-tah-leest) capitalist
Amerika (ah-mare-ee-kah) America

Oral Practice
@ Track 8
Pronounce the following German words out loud w ithout looking at th e p ro ­
nunciations. Then check the correct pronunciation that is provided.

German English Germ an Pronunciation

1. Pilot pilot (pee-lote)
2. Professor professor (pro-fes-suh)
3. attraktiv attractive (ah-trahk-teef)
4. komisch funny (koe-mish)
5. Ttir door [tuer]
6. Kanada Canada (kah-nah-dah)
7. halten to hold [hul-ten]
8. blind blind [blint]
9. Dialekt dialect (dee-ah-lekt]
10. Alpen Alps (ahl-pen)
11. Fenster window (fenn-stuh)
12. schreiben to unite (shry-ben)
13. D iplom at diplomat (dee-ploh-m aht)
14. laufen to run (low-fen)
15. Bier beer [beer]