The sounds English speakers find hardest - the umlauts ä, ö, ü, the ß, and ch, sch, z, w, v and r - with mouth tips, the nearest English sound, example words and audio.
ä ö ü ß
How to type ä ö ü ß
No umlauts on your keyboard? You have a few options - and in typed reviews you can always fall back to ae/oe/ue/ss.
On phones & tablets
Long-press the a, o, u or s key on the on-screen keyboard, then slide onto the ä, ö, ü or ß in the popup.
On a computer
Add a German or US-International keyboard layout in your OS settings. US-International: right-Alt + a/o/u give ä/ö/ü, right-Alt + s gives ß. macOS: press ⌥+u then the vowel for an umlaut, ⌥+s for ß. In merke.me you can also just press Alt + a/o/u/s right in the answer box to insert ä/ö/ü/ß.
The ae / oe / ue / ss fallback
German spelling itself lets you write ä ö ü ß as ae oe ue ss. merke.me accepts this in typed reviews, so a missing key never blocks you - it just shows you the proper spelling so you still learn it.
Umlauts: ä, ö, ü
ä
Ä - a-umlaut
/ɛ, ɛː/
Not a new sound: ä sounds like the e in “bed” (short) or the ai in “air” (long).
Closest English sound
English “bed” (short) and “air/fair” (long).
How to say it
Just say an “e”. The only difference from a is the spelling with two dots (the ). Short and open in “Männer”, long in “Käse”.
Examples
Männer- men
Käse- cheese
spät- late
Bäcker- baker
Mädchen- girl
Common mistake
Don’t say it like the a in “Vater” - ä is an e-sound, not an a-sound.
Minimal pairs
Apfel↔Äpfel
Singular → plural: a becomes ä (“Apfel” → “Äpfel”).
ö
Ö - o-umlaut
/œ, øː/
A new sound: round your lips as for “o”, but say “e”.
Closest English sound
Close to French “eu” (peu) or the “ir” in English “bird” (without the r).
How to say it
Say a long “eh” (as in “bet”) and, while doing so, push your lips forward into a round “o” shape. The tongue stays front as for e, the lips are round as for o. Long in “schön”, short in “können”.
Examples
schön- beautiful
hören- to hear
Köln- Cologne
zwölf- twelve
möchten- would like
Common mistake
Don’t just say “o”: “schon” (already) vs. “schön” (beautiful) changes the meaning.
Minimal pairs
schon↔schön
o vs. ö: “schon” = already, “schön” = beautiful.
konnte↔könnte
“konnte” = could (past), “könnte” = could/would be able to.
ü
Ü - u-umlaut
/ʏ, yː/
The trickiest one: round your lips as for “oo”, but say “ee”.
Closest English sound
Like French “u” (tu, lune) - English has no equivalent.
How to say it
Say a long “ee” (as in “bee”) and round your lips tightly, as if to whistle. Tongue front as for i, lips rounded and pushed forward. Long in “über”, short in “fünf”.
Examples
über- over / about
fünf- five
Tür- door
müde- tired
Bücher- books
grün- green
Common mistake
Don’t fall back to “oo” (as in “boot”) or “ee”: “Kiste” (box) vs. “Küste” (coast) depends on it.
Minimal pairs
Kiste↔Küste
i vs. ü: “Kiste” (box) vs. “Küste” (coast).
Mutter↔Mütter
u vs. ü, singular → plural: “Mutter” (mother) → “Mütter” (mothers).
Vowels & diphthongs: ei, ie, eu/äu, length
ei
Ei - the diphthong ei/ai
/aɪ̯/
ei sounds like the English word “eye”, never like a long i. The rarer spelling ai in “Mai” is the same sound.
Closest English sound
English “my”, “high”, “eye”.
How to say it
Start on an open a and glide to i without a break. It is one sound, not two syllables.
Examples
Wein- wine
Zeit- time
klein- small
heißen- to be called
Mai- May
Common mistake
Don’t read ei as ie. “Wein” rhymes with “wine”, not with “ween” - and “Wien” is a different word.
Minimal pairs
Beine↔Biene
ei is “eye”, ie is a long i: Beine (legs) versus Biene (the insect).
heiß↔hieß
heiß is a temperature, hieß is the past of heißen. Only the diphthong separates them.
ie
Ie - the long i
/iː/
ie is a long i as in “see”. The e is not pronounced, it only lengthens.
Closest English sound
English “see”, “machine”.
How to say it
Say an i and hold it. Lips stay wide, tongue high and forward - nothing moves, unlike in the ei.
Examples
vier- four
Liebe- love
spielen- to play
Bier- beer
wieder- again
Common mistake
Don’t say it like English “pie”: “vier” sounds like “feer”, not “fire”. And don’t voice the e - “Liebe” has two syllables, not three.
Minimal pairs
Miete↔Mitte
ie is always long, a plain i before two consonants always short: Miete (rent) versus Mitte (middle).
eu / äu
Eu and äu - the oy sound
/ɔʏ̯/
eu and äu sound exactly alike: like the “oy” in “boy”. Äu appears where the base word has au: Haus - Häuser.
Closest English sound
English “boy”, “toy”, “noise”.
How to say it
Start on o and glide to ü. The end point is rounded, which is what separates it from ei.
Examples
neu- new
Freund- friend
heute- today
Häuser- houses
läuft- runs
Common mistake
Don’t say “Deutsch” as “dyutsch” - it sounds like “doytsch”. English “Europe” is no guide: German “Europa” starts with the oy sound.
Minimal pairs
Baum↔Bäume
In the plural au becomes äu and then sounds like eu: Baum (one) versus Bäume (several).
a - aa - ah
Vowel length - short or long?
/a/ vs. /aː/
Every German vowel can be short or long, and the difference carries meaning: “Stadt” is not “Staat”.
Closest English sound
English “bitten” versus “beaten” - the same kind of difference, but far more often meaningful in German.
How to say it
The spelling tells you. Long: double vowel (Saal), h after the vowel (Zahn), ie (Miete), or a single consonant after it (Bad). Short: two or more consonants after it (Stadt, kommen, Mitte).
Examples
Staat- state
Stadt- city
Zahn- tooth
offen- open
Bad- bath
Common mistake
Treating length as a detail. It is not one: “Ofen” and “offen”, “ihn” and “in”, “Staat” and “Stadt” differ in nothing else.
Minimal pairs
Staat↔Stadt
Long a versus short a: der Staat is a country, die Stadt a place inside it.
Ofen↔offen
One consonant after the vowel makes it long, two make it short - der Ofen heats, offen is a state.
ʔ
Glottal stop - the hard vowel onset
/ʔ/
Before a vowel at the start of a word or syllable, German starts afresh with a brief stop: be-obachten, ver-einbaren.
Closest English sound
English “uh-oh” - exactly the stop in the middle.
How to say it
Hold your back briefly before the vowel, then release it. In “ein Eis” you hear two such onsets in a row.
Examples
beobachten- to observe
Verein- club, association
Spiegelei- fried egg
Theater- theatre
bearbeiten- to edit, to work on
Common mistake
Linking words together the way English and French do. “am Abend” is not “amabend”, and “bearbeiten” has a clear fresh start after the be.
Minimal pairs
verreisen↔vereisen
verreisen means to travel away, vereisen means to freeze over. Only the fresh onset before the ei separates them: ver-eisen.
au
Au - the third diphthong
/aʊ̯/
au sounds like the ou in “house” and is the only one of the three diphthongs that comes ready-made from English.
Closest English sound
English “house”, “now”, “loud”.
How to say it
Start on an open a and glide to u, rounding the lips at the end. One sound, not two syllables.
Examples
Haus- house
laufen- to run
Frau- woman
kaufen- to buy
auch- also
Common mistake
Hardly ever mispronounced, but often mishandled in the plural: au becomes äu, which then sounds like eu - Haus becomes Häuser, not “Hauser”.
Minimal pairs
Haus↔Häuser
In the plural au becomes äu, switching from the au sound to the oy sound.
y
Y - a ü in loanwords
/yː, ʏ/
In words of Greek origin, y is pronounced like ü: Typ, System, Physik. Only in recent borrowings from English does it stay English.
Closest English sound
No English counterpart - see the entry on ü: lips as for u, tongue as for i.
How to say it
Exactly like ü: say an i and round the lips while doing so. Long in Typ and Physik, short before two consonants as in System and Rhythmus.
Examples
Typ- type, guy
System- system
Physik- physics
Symbol- symbol
Rhythmus- rhythm
Common mistake
Reading y as an i or as a glide, English-style. “System” is not “Sistem” but “Süstem”. Recent loans are different: Handy, Baby and Party keep their English pronunciation.
Minimal pairs
Typ↔tief
Both have a long vowel at the front of the mouth; only in Typ are the lips rounded while you say it.
The ß (Eszett)
ß
ß - Eszett (sharp s)
/s/
A single letter for a voiceless “s” like the ss in “kiss” - it is not a “B”.
Closest English sound
The sharp, voiceless “s” in “kiss”, “grass”.
How to say it
Make a hard, “s” (no buzzing of the vocal cords). Key point: ß always follows a long vowel or and signals it - “Straße”, “heißen”. After a short vowel you write ss: “Masse” vs. “Maße”.
Examples
Straße- street
heißen- to be called
groß- big
Fußball- football
weiß- white
Common mistake
Don’t read it as a capital “B” (the letter looks similar). Note: in Switzerland ß is always written ss.
Minimal pairs
Masse↔Maße
short vs. long a: “Masse” (mass) vs. “Maße” (measurements).
Two variants depending on the vowel before it: soft [ç] after front vowels, hard [x] after back vowels.
Closest English sound
Soft ch ≈ the whispered “h” in “huge/hue”; hard ch ≈ Scottish “loch”, Spanish “j”.
How to say it
German “ch” is never “tch” (as in English “church”) and never “k”. Which of the two variants applies depends on the sound before it.
Soft ch [ç]/ç/
After front vowels (e, i, ä, ö, ü, ei, eu), after l, n, r and in the ending “-chen”. Whisper an “h” as in “huge”, tongue near the front of the palate.
ich- I
Milch- milk
Mädchen- girl
richtig- correct
euch- you (all)
Hard ch [x]/x/
After back vowels (a, o, u, au). A friction sound far back in the throat, as in Scottish “loch”.
Bach- brook
Buch- book
noch- still / yet
auch- also
Nacht- night
Common mistake
Don’t say it as “k” (“Bach” is not “Bak”) or as “tch”. Also: “chs” is usually “ks” - “Fuchs” sounds like “Fuks”.
Minimal pairs
dich↔dick
The ich sound is a breath at the palate, the k a hard stop. Say dich like dick and you have said a different word.
Kirche↔Kirsche
ch versus sch: die Kirche is the building, die Kirsche the fruit. The single commonest mix-up there is.
sch
SCH - like English “sh”
/ʃ/
Simply the English “sh” in “ship” - and word-initial “sp”/“st” hide this sound too.
Closest English sound
English “sh” (ship, fish).
How to say it
Round and push your lips forward slightly and make a long “sh”. Note: at the start of a word, “sp” and “st” are pronounced “shp”/“sht” - “Sport” = “shport”, “Stadt” = “shtat”.
Examples
Schule- school
schön- beautiful
Tisch- table
Deutsch- German
Sport- sport - say “Schport”
Stadt- city - say “Schtadt”
Common mistake
Don’t pronounce word-initial “st”/“sp” with an English “s”.
Minimal pairs
Tasche↔Tasse
sch versus s: you carry a Tasche, you drink from a Tasse.
waschen↔wachsen
sch versus chs (spoken ks): waschen makes clean, wachsen makes bigger.
z
Z - like “ts”
/ts/
Always “ts” as at the end of English “cats” - never a buzzing “z”.
Closest English sound
The “ts” in “cats”, “pizza”.
How to say it
Start as for “t” and release straight into an “s”: “ts”. Also word-initially: “Zeit” sounds like “tsyte”.
Examples
Zeit- time
Zug- train
zwei- two
Katze- cat
tanzen- to dance
Herz- heart
Common mistake
Don’t use the English “z” in “zoo” (that buzzing sound in German is written s, e.g. “Sonne”).
Minimal pairs
Zeit↔seit
z is ts, while s at the start of a word is voiced. Zeit is time, seit introduces a starting point.
heizen↔heißen
z (ts) versus ß (sharp s): heizen is to heat, heißen is to be called.
w
W - like English “v”
/v/
German “w” sounds like the English “v” in “van”.
Closest English sound
English “v” (van, voice).
How to say it
Rest the upper teeth lightly on the lower lip and it - like English “v”. Don’t round both lips as in the English “w” (water).
Examples
Wasser- water
Wein- wine
wo- where
wir- we
Wetter- weather
Common mistake
Don’t use the rounded-lip English “w”: “Wasser” starts like “vasser”, not “wosser”.
Minimal pairs
Wetter↔Vetter
w (=v) vs. v (=f): “Wetter” (weather) vs. “Vetter” (cousin). The most common swap error.
v
V - usually like “f”
/f, v/
In native German words “v” sounds like “f”; only in loanwords like “w” (= English v).
Closest English sound
Mostly English “f” (father); in loanwords English “v” (vase).
How to say it
Default: “f” - “Vater” sounds like “Fahter”, “viel” like “feel”. The exception is loanwords, where “v” = English v - “Vase”, “Villa”, “Klavier”, “November”.
Examples
Vater- father - say “Fahter”
viel- much - say “feel”
vier- four
von- from / of
Vase- vase - loanword: English v
Klavier- piano - loanword: English v
Common mistake
Don’t automatically use the English “v” - that only applies to loanwords.
Minimal pairs
vier↔wir
The v in native German words sounds like f, the w like an English v. Vier is the number four, wir means we.
Vase↔Base
In loanwords v sounds like w: die Vase with a voiced v, die Base with a b.
r
R - uvular R & vocalic R
/ʁ, ɐ/
A throat sound (not made with the tongue tip) - and at the end of a syllable it turns into a weak “a”.
Closest English sound
No English counterpart. The throat sound resembles a soft gargle; the vocalic R ≈ the “a” in English “sofa”.
How to say it
Two positions decide the pronunciation: before a vowel consonantal, after a vowel vocalic. Getting both right is what makes you sound German.
Consonantal [ʁ] - before a vowel/ʁ/
At the start of a syllable, before a vowel. A friction sound at the back uvula (uvular), like a soft gargle - the tongue tip stays down.
rot- red
Reise- trip
Brot- bread
Frage- question
drei- three
Vocalic [ɐ] - after a vowel/ɐ/
At the end of a syllable/word and in the ending “-er”. The R is barely a consonant; it becomes a weak “a” (schwa) - almost swallowed.
Vater- father - “Fah-ta”
Mutter- mother - “Mutt-a”
aber- but - “ah-ba”
Uhr- clock
Tür- door
Common mistake
Don’t carry the American retroflex tongue-R everywhere - it’s the most noticeable accent marker. And don’t roll a hard R at the end of a word: “Vater” = “Fah-ta”, not “Fah-terr”.
Minimal pairs
Rand↔Land
German r is made far back in the throat, l right at the teeth. Der Rand is the edge, das Land the country.
Reise↔leise
The same contrast at the start of a word: die Reise is a journey, leise means quiet.
st / sp
St and sp at the start - “sht” and “shp”
/ʃt/, /ʃp/
At the start of a word or stem, st becomes “sht” and sp becomes “shp”. In the middle and at the end it stays a plain s.
Closest English sound
English “shtick” for st-, and the sh of “ship” before a p for sp-.
How to say it
Say the s as sch and then add t or p: Straße becomes “Shtraße”, Sport becomes “Shport”. The rule also applies mid-word wherever a new stem starts: ver-stehen, Bei-spiel.
Examples
Straße- street
Stein- stone
spielen- to play
sprechen- to speak
verstehen- to understand
Common mistake
Applying the rule to every st in a word. “Fenster”, “Wespe” and “bist” have a plain s - no new stem starts there.
Minimal pairs
Stein↔Fenster
At the start “Shtein”, mid-word without sch: “Fenster”. The same two letters, two pronunciations.
s
S before a vowel - the buzzing s
/z/ vs. /s/
A single s before a vowel sounds like the z in “zoo”: Sonne, sagen, lesen. Double s and ß, by contrast, are always sharp.
Closest English sound
English “zoo”, “busy” - not the s in “see”.
How to say it
Say an s and let the vocal cords vibrate - you can feel it with a hand on your throat. That buzz is exactly what ss and ß lack.
Examples
Sonne- sun
sagen- to say
lesen- to read
Hase- hare
Sommer- summer
Common mistake
Making every s sharp. “Sie” does not start like English “see” but like “zee” - and “reisen” (to travel) sounds different from “reißen” (to tear).
Minimal pairs
reisen↔reißen
A single s buzzes, ß is sharp: reisen means to travel, reißen means to tear.
pf
Pf - both letters count
/pf/
Pf is a single sound made of p and f back to back - not a silent p as in “pneumonia”.
Closest English sound
English “cupful”, said quickly - that is exactly this transition.
How to say it
Close your lips as for p and release them into an f instead of a vowel. The closure does not pop open, it turns into friction.
Examples
Pferd- horse
Apfel- apple
Kopf- head
Pflanze- plant
Pfeffer- pepper
Common mistake
Swallowing the p. “Pferd” is not “Ferd”, and “Apfel” is not “Afel” - you hear both parts.
Minimal pairs
Pfanne↔Panne
The p has to be audible, otherwise die Pfanne turns into eine Panne. Both sounds in one breath, with no gap between them.
Pflug↔Flug
Drop the p and only the f is left: der Pflug belongs in a field, der Flug in the air.
qu
Qu - spoken as k plus the German w
/kv/
Qu is k plus the German w, so “kv”: Quelle sounds like “kvelle”, not like English “queue”.
Closest English sound
English “quick” is close, but the German w is a v sound as in “van”.
How to say it
Say a k and let the German w follow immediately - upper teeth on the lower lip. Two sounds, one movement.
Examples
Quelle- source, spring
Qualität- quality
bequem- comfortable
Quark- quark, curd cheese
quer- crosswise
Common mistake
Pronouncing the w with lip rounding as in English. German “Qualität” has a v in the middle, not an English w.
Minimal pairs
Quelle↔Kelle
qu is spoken kw, not k. Die Quelle is a source, die Kelle a ladle.
Qual↔Wahl
The k in front is the whole difference: die Qual is torment, die Wahl a choice.
ng
Ng - one sound, no g after it
/ŋ/
Ng is a single nasal sound as in “singer” - never “sing-ger” as in “finger”.
Closest English sound
English “singer”, “ringing” - not “finger”, “hunger”.
How to say it
Raise the back of the tongue to the soft palate and let the air out through the nose. Don’t release at the end - that release is what would become a g.
Examples
singen- to sing
lange- long, for a long time
jung- young
Finger- finger
Zeitung- newspaper
Common mistake
Adding a g because it is written. “Sängerin” has no k and no g in the middle, and “jung” ends on the nasal itself.
Minimal pairs
singen↔sinken
ng is a single sound at the back of the palate, with no g after it. Singen is to sing, sinken is to sink.
Engel↔Enkel
The same contrast in a pair of nouns: der Engel has wings, der Enkel is a grandchild.
j
J - like the English y
/j/
German j sounds like the y in “yes”, never like the j in “jam”. “Ja” is “ya”.
Closest English sound
English “yes”, “young”, “yellow”.
How to say it
Set the tongue as for an i and glide straight into the following vowel. There is no closure and no friction.
Examples
ja- yes
Jahr- year
jetzt- now
Junge- boy
jeder- every, each
Common mistake
Saying j as English “j”: “Jahr” is not “Djahr”. Conversely, German writes the English j sound as dsch (Dschungel).
Minimal pairs
Jahr↔Haar
German j sounds like the English y in yes, not like an h. Das Jahr is a year, das Haar is hair.
Jacke↔Hacke
Again j versus h: you put on eine Jacke, die Hacke is a garden hoe (and a heel).
h
H - breathed or silent
/h/ vs. stumm
At the start of a word or syllable, h is breathed (Haus, wohin). After a vowel it is silent and only lengthens it (gehen, Uhr, ihm).
Closest English sound
English “house” for the breathed h; the silent h has no English counterpart.
How to say it
At the start: a short puff of breath before the vowel. After a vowel: do nothing at all and hold the vowel long instead - “Zahn” is “Zaan”.
Examples
Haus- house
Hand- hand
gehen- to go
Uhr- clock, o’clock
Sohn- son
Common mistake
Voicing the silent h. “gehen” has no h in the middle, it sounds like “geen” - and “sehen” like “seen”.
Minimal pairs
Hut↔gut
At the start the h is clearly audible: der Hut sits on your head, gut is a judgement.
tsch
Tsch - the English ch
/tʃ/
What English writes as ch, German writes as tsch: “tschüss”, “Deutsch”. It has nothing to do with the German ch.
Closest English sound
English “church”, “match”.
How to say it
Set the tongue as for t and release it into a sch. It is the same sound as in “cheese”.
Examples
tschüss- bye
Deutsch- German
Quatsch- nonsense
klatschen- to clap
Rutsche- slide
Common mistake
Confusing tsch with the German ch. “Deutsch” ends on the tsch sound, “Buch” on the ach sound - two entirely different things.
Minimal pairs
Deutsch↔Buch
Tsch is the English ch, the German ch a fricative at the back of the mouth. Similar letters on the page, two sounds.
l
L - always clear
/l/
German has only one l, and everywhere it sounds like the l at the start of “light” - never like the dark l at the end of “ball”.
Closest English sound
English “light”, “lucky” - but not “ball”, “milk”, “well”.
How to say it
The tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the upper front teeth, and the body of the tongue stays flat. It is that raising of the tongue body which makes the English dark l - leave it out.
Examples
Liebe- love
Ball- ball
alt- old
Milch- milk
schnell- fast
Common mistake
Darkening the l at the end of a syllable the English way. “Ball”, “alt”, “will” and “Milch” give an English accent away instantly - they need the same clear l as in “Liebe”.
Minimal pairs
hell↔Halle
The same clear l at the end of a syllable and between vowels - the tongue makes exactly the same movement in both words.
chs
Chs - spoken like an x
/ks/
Where the s belongs to the stem, chs becomes a plain ks: sechs, Fuchs, wachsen. No ch sound anywhere in it.
Closest English sound
English “six”, “fox” - the very same words, the very same sequence of sounds.
How to say it
Say k and add s, without forming the fricative in between. The only thing to watch is the boundary: if the s belongs to an ending, the ch stays a ch - du machst does not join this group.
Examples
sechs- six
Fuchs- fox
wachsen- to grow
wechseln- to change
Erwachsene- adults
Common mistake
Sounding the ach: “sechs” is not “sech-s” but rhymes with English “sex”. Conversely, du machst and er möchte really do keep the ch sound.
Minimal pairs
wachsen↔machst
In wachsen the s belongs to the stem, hence ks. In du machst it is the ending, so the ach sound stays.
th, ph, c
Th, ph and c in loanwords
/t/, /f/, /k/ oder /ts/
Three spellings from Greek and Latin: **th** is a plain t, **ph** an f, and **c** is a ts before front vowels and a k otherwise.
Closest English sound
For ph, English “photo” helps. For th it does not: the English tongue-between-teeth sound does not exist in German at all.
How to say it
Just say th as t and leave the tongue out from between the teeth. Ph as f. For c, look at the following vowel: before e and i it becomes ts (Cent, Cicero), before a, o and u it becomes k (Café, Computer).
Examples
Theater- theatre
Apotheke- pharmacy
Philosophie- philosophy
Café- café
Cent- cent
Common mistake
Bringing the English th sound into German. “Theater” starts like “Tee”, “Thema” like “Team” - the tongue stays behind the teeth.
Minimal pairs
Café↔Cent
The same c, two sounds: a k before a, a ts before e. The following vowel decides, not the word.
Endings & final position: -ig, -er, -en, final b/d/g
-ig
The ending -ig - spoken as -ich
/ɪç/
At the end of a word, -ig is spoken as -ich: “wichtig” sounds like “wichtich”. If another ending follows, the g returns: “wichtige”.
Closest English sound
The ich sound, as at the start of English “huge” - see the entry on ch.
How to say it
Say the ending like the word “ich”: front of the tongue body to the hard palate, a soft fricative. -igkeit follows the rule too (“Richtigkeit”).
Examples
wichtig- important
richtig- correct
König- king
günstig- cheap, favourable
zwanzig- twenty
Common mistake
Saying a hard k: “König” is not “Könik”. In the south and in Austria you will hear the k, but stage pronunciation and the standard call for the ich sound.
Minimal pairs
wichtig↔wichtige
The ich sound at the end of the word, a real g again before an ending: “wichtig” versus “wichtige Termine”.
-er / -e
The endings -er and -e - the unstressed remainder
/ɐ/, /ə/
The unstressed -er at the end of a word is a vowel, not an R: “Vater” ends on a dull a. The -e beside it is a short murmur.
Closest English sound
English “sofa” for the -e, and the a at the end of “China” for the -er.
How to say it
Keep the mouth relaxed and say a short, colourless vowel. Open a little more for -er, a little less for -e. No rolled R, no American r.
Examples
Vater- father
Mutter- mother
besser- better
Kinder- children
Blume- flower
Common mistake
Making the final r audible. “besser” does not end on an r but on an a-like vowel - and the -e in “Blume” is not a full e as in “Bett”.
Minimal pairs
Blume↔Blumen
Both endings are unstressed and short. They still separate singular from plural - the -n is the only signal.
-b -d -g
Final devoicing - b, d, g turn hard
/p/, /t/, /k/
At the end of a word or syllable, b, d and g sound like p, t and k: “Tag” like “Tak”, “Hund” like “Hunt”, “halb” like “halp”.
Closest English sound
No English counterpart: there the b in “cab” stays soft. That is exactly where the difficulty lies.
How to say it
Drop the voicing at the end of the word and say the hard partner. Add an ending and the sound goes soft again: “Tag” hard, “Tage” soft; “Kind” hard, “Kinder” soft.
Examples
Tag- day
Hund- dog
halb- half
Kind- child
Berg- mountain
Common mistake
Carrying the soft b, d or g through to the end of the word because it is written there. The spelling stays, the pronunciation does not - “Rad” and “Rat” sound identical.
Minimal pairs
Rad↔Rat
At the end of the word there is no audible difference: das Rad is round, der Rat is advice. Only the plural separates them - Räder versus Räte.
Tag↔Tage
One word, two pronunciations of the g: hard in the singular, soft as soon as an ending follows.
-tion
The ending -tion - spoken with a ts
/tsi̯oːn/
The t in -tion sounds like a German z, so “tsi-on”: Nation, Station, Information. The stress always falls on the o.
Closest English sound
Not the English “-shun” of “nation”, but the ts of “cats” plus “ion”.
How to say it
Say the t as a z, then a short i and a long o with n. The same rule covers -tial and -tiell (partiell) and the ending in Portion.
Examples
Nation- nation
Station- station
Information- information
Portion- portion
Funktion- function
Common mistake
Carrying over the English pronunciation. “Information” is not “inform-ayshun” but “Informa-tsion”, with the stress on the last syllable - English stresses it there too, which helps.
Minimal pairs
Aktion↔Aktien
Aktion ends on the ts sound with the stress at the back, Aktien has an ordinary ti with the stress at the front.
be- ge- ver-
The unstressed prefixes be-, ge-, ver-
/bə-, ɡə-, fɐ-/
The inseparable prefixes be-, ge-, ver-, er-, ent-, zer- never carry the stress. Their e becomes a murmur and the stress moves to the next syllable.
Closest English sound
English “begin”, “behind” - the first e is only murmured there too.
How to say it
Say the prefix light and fast, with the same colourless vowel as in the ending -e. The stress comes after it: beSUchen, verSTEhen, geFALlen. And because a prefix can meet a vowel, the glottal stop appears there: be-obachten.
Examples
besuchen- to visit
verstehen- to understand
gefallen- to please
erzählen- to tell
entschuldigen- to excuse
Common mistake
Stressing the prefix because it comes first. That shifts the meaning: with separable prefixes such as um-, durch- and über-, the stress is precisely what differs - UMfahren and umFAHren are two different verbs.
Stress & melody: which syllable, which tone
◌́
Word stress - which syllable carries the tone?
ˈ
German usually stresses the first syllable of the stem. The exceptions are no trifle, though: with separable verbs and loanwords the stress falls elsewhere - and sometimes it decides the meaning.
Closest English sound
English “RECord” (noun) versus “reCORD” (verb) - the same kind of difference, but on different rules in German.
How to say it
Three rules cover nearly everything. First: plain German words stress the stem syllable (ARbeit, LEHrerin, GARten). Second: separable prefixes carry the stress (ANrufen, AUFstehen, MITkommen), inseparable ones never do (beSUchen, verGESsen). Third: loanwords usually stress the end (StuDENT, NatiON, MuSIK).
Examples
anrufen- to phone
besuchen- to visit
Student- student
Musik- music
Arbeit- work
Common mistake
Stressing words the English way because they look alike. “Student” is StuDENT, not STUdent; “Musik” is MuSIK, not MUsic; “Kaffee” is KAffee. Misplaced stress often blocks understanding even when every single sound is right.
↗ ↘
Sentence melody - where the voice rises and falls
↗ / ↘
Statements and wh-questions end on a falling voice, yes-no questions on a rising one. German moves less overall than English does - flatter is not impolite here.
Closest English sound
The same two basic patterns as in English, only with a smaller swing.
How to say it
Let the at the end when you state something or ask with a wh-word: Ich komme aus Japan. Woher kommst du? Let it rise when the answer is yes or no: Kommst du aus Japan? In lists it stays suspended and only falls on the last item.
Examples
Ich komme aus Japan.- I come from Japan.
Woher kommst du?- Where are you from?
Kommst du aus Japan?- Are you from Japan?
Bitte kommen Sie herein.- Please come in.
Wie bitte?- Sorry, what?
Common mistake
Importing the English sing-song, or letting every sentence rise at the end. Conversely, English speakers easily hear the flatter German melody as brusque - it is not, it simply moves less.
Minimal pairs
Du kommst morgen.↔Du kommst morgen?
The same words in the same order: falling it is a statement, rising a query. In German a question may arise from melody alone, with no change of word order.
Haus|tür
Compounds - the first part carries the stress
ˈ
German glues two words into one, and the stress almost always stays on the first part. That is not a nicety: stress is often the only cue a listener has for where one word ends and the next begins.
Closest English sound
Like English “BLACKbird” versus “black BIRD” - the stress is what turns two words into one.
How to say it
Break the word into its parts and hit the first one hard, the rest clearly softer: HAUStür, APfelsaft, BAHNhof, ARbeitsplatz. With three parts it stays that way - the first wins: FUSSballspiel. The exception is intensifiers like steinREICH or blitzSCHNELL, where the second part takes the stress.
Examples
die Haustür- the front door
der Apfelsaft- the apple juice
der Arbeitsplatz- the workplace
die Krankenversicherung- the health insurance
Common mistake
Giving both parts equal weight. Then “Apfelsaft” sounds like two words and the listener waits for a noun that never arrives. With long compounds this is the commonest reason an otherwise correct sentence does not land.
UMfahren / umFAHren
When the stress reverses the meaning
ˈ
A handful of verbs exist twice over: spelled alike, stressed differently, and the two meanings are often each other's opposite. Move the stress here and you say something else - not something less clear, something different.
Closest English sound
In English stress separates parts of speech (“PREsent” versus “preSENT”); in German it separates two verbs with quite different senses.
How to say it
The rule is mechanical: stress on the prefix means the is separable and literal - UMfahren is 'to run something over', ich fahre es um. Stress on the stem means it is inseparable and figurative - umFAHren is 'to drive around it', ich umfahre es. The same holds for ÜBERsetzen (by ferry) versus überSETzen (into another language), and UMstellen (to rearrange) versus umSTELlen (to surround).
Examples
Ich fahre den Poller um.- I knock the bollard over.
Ich umfahre die Baustelle.- I drive around the roadworks.
Der Fährmann setzt uns über.- The ferryman takes us across.
Sie übersetzt den Vertrag.- She translates the contract.
Common mistake
Treating the stress as a matter of taste. Here it is the grammar itself: it decides whether the verb separates, and with it the whole sentence structure. “Ich habe den Baum umgefahren” and “Ich habe den Baum umfahren” are both correct and mean opposite things.
ICH war das
Sentence stress - which word carries the point?
ˈ
In every German sentence one word carries the main stress, and which one decides what is being said. The same sentence can answer a question, raise an objection or confirm a guess - without a single word changing.
Closest English sound
Exactly as in English: “I didn't say that” means five different things depending on which word you hit. German does the same; learners just notice it less often.
How to say it
Before you speak, ask what the new information is and put the stress exactly there. Everything else drops noticeably. “ICH habe das gesagt” (not somebody else), “ich HABE das gesagt” (I really did), “ich habe DAS gesagt” (that, not something else). With no special intent, a neutral statement usually stresses the last content word: “Ich fahre morgen nach BERlin.”
Examples
ICH habe das gesagt.- I said that (not anyone else).
Ich habe DAS gesagt.- That is what I said (not something else).
Ich fahre morgen nach Berlin.- I am going to Berlin tomorrow.
Das habe ich nicht gesagt.- That is not what I said.
Common mistake
Giving every word the same weight because you are busy with the grammar. The sentence is understood, but it sounds read aloud - and the actual point is lost. Just as common the other way round: stressing the verb when the new thing in the sentence is somewhere else entirely.
