Language Notes
The sounds of German

The good news about German pronunciation is that there are clear rules about how you pronounce each letter. However, the same as with English, people speak with different accents, depending on their region and background.

Most sounds are recognisable from English, though there are some differences you need to be aware of.



Vowels

a e i o u
They can be short or long, depending on where they appear in a word.

Tegel
The first e is long and similar to the sound in Scottish gate
The second e is short and similar to the sound in English Ben

Flughafen
The u is short, similar to the sound in English put
The a is long, similar to the sound in English half
The e is short, similar to the sound in English Ben

Hoffmann
The o is short, similar to the sound in English shop
The a is short, similar to the sound in Northern English man

sind, bin
The i is short, similar to the sound in English bin.

Read and hear more about vowels.

Vowel Combinations


Sie
The ie is pronounced like 'ee' as in English see.

Claus
The au always sounds like 'ow' as in English how.

Freut mich
The eu always sounds like 'oy' as in English boy.

Neddermeyer
The ey / ei / ay / ai combinations are always pronounced like eye in English.

Read and hear more about these and other vowel combinations.



Consonants


ich auch
The ch sounds a bit like the 'h' in English huge after i.
But ch is harder after au - more like the 'ch' in Scottish loch:

Read and hear more about ch, sch and h.

Sind Sie Claus?

The s always sounds like an English z at the beginning of a word.
But at the end of a word it always sounds like an English s.

Read and hear more about s, st-, sp-, sch-, z and ß

Willkommen
The w always sounds like the English letter v.
In contrast, v is normally pronounced like the English letter f.

Read and hear more about w, v

Tegel, Guten Tag
The g is always hard like the English guest

Read and hear more about g, d, b

Freut mich
The r is pronounced quite differently from the standard English r. It's a more guttural sound, pronounced at the back of the throat in standard German, but it tends to be silent at the end of words. In Southern Germany you may hear it pronounced as a trill.

Ja
The j is always pronounced like the English y.
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