German

vowels

German vowels have both long and short
variants, and would-be long vowels are
often shortened when they precede
multiple consonants (e.g. Schmidt =
shmit, not shmeet). Likewise, would-be
short vowels are lengthened by doubling
of the vowel (e.g. Staat = shtaht, Boot =
boht, See = zay), or by the letter "h"
placed after the vowel (e.g. Mahler = mah-
ler, ohne = oh-nuh). Also take note of the
German final e: it's not silent, but it is very
short.

German has eight vowels: a, e, i, o, u, , ,
. They can be short or long. Vowel length
makes a difference in word meaning. also
German has three diphthongs: ai, oi, au.

Pronunciation German Vowel:

A

long
Long like a in hard.

short
Between the vowels in English "hut" and
"hot". Very short and clipped.

E

long
Like the vowel in English "say", but with
lips extremely spread and no offglide into
an "ee"-sound.

short
Short like e in set, but even shorter.

long
Long like ee in feet.

short
Like the vowel in English "mitt", but very
short and clipped.

O

long
Like the vowel in English "so", but with
lips extremely rounded and no offglide
into an "ooh"-sound.

short
Short like o in hot, but even shorter.

U

long
Long like oo in boot, said with pursed lips.


short
Like the vowel in English "bush", but very
short and clipped.




long
The long "" sound - which can be written
"" or "h", but never "" - is pronounced
like the "a" sound in the English "day" or
"played", but the German sound is a
longer one which does not slide away into
"ee" as the English sounds tends.

short
The short "" sound - which can only be
written "" - sounds like the "e" in English
"get" or "set".

long
Some what like the vowel in English
"burn". To produce it, say the German
long e, then round the lips as for the long
o. Do not allow your tongue to move
toward the back of your mouth as you
round your lips.

short
A shorter version of German long . To
produce it, say the German short e, then
round the lips as for the short o. Do not
allow your tongue to move toward the
back of your mouth as you round your
lips.



long
The German long "" and short "" are
two of the hardest sounds for the English

speaker to master, as there are no direct

equivalents in the English language. ( )
similar to ew in pew; more like ue in
French rue.

short
A shorter version of German long . To
produce it, say the German short i, then
round the lips as for short u. Do not allow
your tongue to move toward the back of
your mouth as you round your lips.

Pronouncing diphthongs:

Diphthongs are combinations of two
vowels in one syllable (as in the English
lie), and the German language has quite
a few of them.

Instead of being pronounced separately,
the two letters have one sound or
pronunciation. An example would be the
au combination. The diphthong au in

German always has the sound OW, as in

English ouch (the "ou" being an English
diphthong; the au is also part of the
German word autsch, which is
pronounced almost the same as ouch in
English!) Obviously, this kind of
information is very useful to know when
you are trying to pronounce German.

[ai]
Pronunciation: Like the vowel sound in
English "mine", but more clipped and
tense.

[oi]
Pronunciation: Like the vowel sound in
English "coin", but more clipped and
tense.

[au]
Pronunciation: Like the vowel sound in
English "house", but more clipped and
tense.

HOW TO PRONOUNCE GERMAN VOWELS

a - like 'u' in "cup", 'a' in "target"
e - like 'e' in "ten", 'a' in "bake"
i - like 'i' in "bingo"
o - like 'oo' in "door", like 'o' in "top"
u - like 'ou' in "you"
- (Umlaut, transcribed as 'ae') like 'e'
in "ten", 'a' in "band"
- (Umlaut, transcribed as 'oe') like 'i'
in "Sir"
- (Umlaut, transcribed as 'ue') like 'y'
in 'Tyrell'
y - same as '', but also consonant "j"
in words of foreign origin ("Yacht")

Note:

A vowel is shortened when followed
by a double consonant.
A vowel is lengthened by a subsequent
'h', or by a double vowel, depending

on the word. An exception is 'i', which

is lengthened by a following 'e' or 'eh'.
Examples: the h in Hahn makes the a
long; the aa in Haar is also long, the e
in Tier makes the i long. (See below
for "Diphthongs".)

HOW TO PRONOUNCE GERMAN
CONSONANTS

b - like 'b' in "bed"
c - like 'ts' in "bits" before 'i' and 'e';
like 'k' in "kid" else
d - like 'd' in "dog"
f - like 'ph' in "phone"
g - like 'g' in "go" (never as in
"giraffe")
h - like 'h' in "help"
j - like 'y' in "yoga"
k - like 'c' in "cat"
l - like 'l' in "love"
m - like 'm' in "mother"

 n - like 'n' in "nice"

p - like 'p' in "pig"
q - like 'q' in "quest" (always with "u")
r - like 'r' in "arm", like 'r' in "feather"
(often like silent "h")
s - like 'z' in "haze"
t - like 't' in "top"
v - like 'f' in "father", or like "v" in
"victory"
w - like 'v' in "victory", never like 'wh'
in "whisky"
x - like 'cks' in "kicks"
- like 'ss' in "hiss"

HOW TO PRONOUNCE GERMAN
DIPHTHONGS (gliding vowels)

au - like 'ow' in "how"
ae - transcription for '' if not
available on a keyboard or in URLs
ah - like 'a' in "bar", longer than 'a'
u - like 'oy' in "boy"

 ei - like 'i' in "wine"

eu - like 'oy' in "boy"
eh - long 'e'
ie - like 'ee' in "week", longer than 'i'
ieh - like 'ee' in "week", longer than 'i',
fundamentally no difference to 'ie'
oe - transcription for '' if not
available on a keyboard or in URLs
oh - like 'oo' in "door", longer than 'o'
ue - transcription for '' if not
available on a keyboard or in URLs
uh - like 'ou' in "youth", longer than 'u'
'ch' after 'a', 'o' and 'u' - like 'ch' in
Scottish "loch", spoken in the throat,
like 'j' in German
'ch' after 'i' and 'e' - like 'h' in "huge"
'ch' at the beginning of a word - like
'ch' in "character"
ck - like 'ck' in "blocking"
ng - like both 'ng' in "singing", never
like 'ng' in "finger"
ph - like 'f' in "fish"

 sch - like 'sh' in "sheep"

'sp' at the beginning of a word - like
'shp' in "fish pool"
ss - like 'ss' in "hiss", in contrast to '',
makes the preceding vowel shorter.
Also used as transcription for '' in
URLs or on foreign keyboards.
'st' at the beginning of a word - like
'sht' in "ashtray"