Die Laute — DE. für Anfänger

What you will be able to do

Learn to hear and reproduce the German sounds that English does not have.

I can pronounce the two German ch sounds and tell them apart by ear.
I can tell a short vowel from a long vowel by ear, even in a word I have never heard before.
I can pronounce the German w, v, s and z the way Germans do.

Zum Lesen · For reading

Deutsch klingt für viele Englischsprachige zuerst fremd. Manche Laute gibt es im Englischen gar nicht, zum Beispiel in den Wörtern ich, Milch und Mädchen. Andere Buchstaben klingen auf Deutsch ganz anders als im Englischen, und wieder andere klingen vertraut. Deshalb ist es so wichtig, Laute zu hören, sie zu wiederholen und Wörter aufzuschreiben.

German sounds strange at first to many English speakers. Some sounds do not exist in English at all, for example in the words ich, Milch and Mädchen. Other letters sound quite different in German, and others sound familiar. That is why it is so important to listen to sounds, repeat them and write words down.

How German sounds

ich, Milch, Mädchen, Löwe — Buch, suchen, Nacht, Bauch. Schnee, Schule, Fisch — sechs, wachsen. Staat, Stadt, Rate, Ratte. Liebe, Bein, schön. Wein, Wasser, wo — Vater, Fahrrad, vier. Sonne, See, sieben — Zeit, Katze, zwölf. Straße, Fuß, groß. haben, kein, ich, sehr. Rot, rot, fahren — Mutter, Bruder.

German has a small set of sounds, and the spelling always shows which one to use. That makes a new word easier than it looks: you can hear a word and write it down, and read a word and say it out loud. The rules below cover the sounds that English does not have, and the four letters that German uses in another way: w, v, s and z.

ch has two sounds — and sch and chs are different

ich · Milch · Mädchen · Löwe — Buch · suchen · Nacht · Bauch — Schnee · Schule · Fisch — sechs · wachsen

After e, i, ä, ö and ü the ch is soft: say it like the y in yes, but further forward in the mouth (ich, Milch, Mädchen). After a, o and u it is hard: a scraping sound from the back of the mouth (Buch, suchen, Nacht). The letters sch always make one sound, like sh in ship (Schnee, Schule). The combination chs is ch plus s and sounds like x in box (sechs, wachsen).

Long and short vowels sound different

Staat – Stadt · Rate – Ratte · Liebe · Bein · schön · Tür

The same vowel can be long or short, and the spelling shows which one it is. Hold the long vowel about twice as long as the short one: Staat is longer than Stadt. The combinations ie and ei are always long (Liebe, Bein), and the umlauts ä, ö and ü are always long as well (Möwe, schön, Tür).

w, v, s and z sound different in German

Wein · Wasser · wo — Vater · Fahrrad · vier — Sonne · See · sieben — Zeit · Katze · zwölf

The w is pronounced like the English v (Wein, Wasser), and the v like the English f (Vater, Fahrrad). An s before a vowel is pronounced like z (Sonne, See, sieben), and a written z is pronounced ts, like the end of the English word cats (Zeit, Katze, zwölf).

ß is a hard s and h is usually silent

Straße · Fuß · groß — haben · ich · sehr — kein · Uhr · Schule · fahren

The ß is always a hard s and never a sh (Straße, Fuß, groß). The h is heard when it stands after a vowel and in front of a consonant (haben, ich, sehr); everywhere else it stays silent (kein, Uhr, Schule, fahren).

r is a roll in the throat or a light flap

Rot · rot · fahren — Mutter · Bruder

The r has two sounds. In Rot, rot and fahren you hear a rolling or scraping sound in the throat. In Mutter and Bruder the tongue touches the roof of the mouth once, very lightly. For this lesson it is enough to hear the difference.

Sounds and how they are written

ich, Milch, Mädchen, Buch, suchen, Nacht, Schnee, sechs, Vater, Fahrrad, Wein, Wasser, Sonne, See, Zeit, Katze, Straße, haben, kein, rot, Tür.

Every time you see the same spelling, you hear the same sound. That is why you can read a word you have never seen and still say it correctly. The ch in ich and the ch in Buch are two different sounds, and the w in Wein sounds like an English v.

Sound	Written as	Example words	How it sounds in English
soft ch	ch after e, i, ä, ö, ü	ich, Milch, Mädchen	like the y in yes, but further forward in the mouth
hard ch	ch after a, o, u	Buch, suchen, Nacht	a scraping sound from the back of the mouth — English has no equal
sh	sch	Schnee, Schule, Fisch	like the sh in ship
ks	chs	sechs, wachsen	like the x in box
f	v	Vater, Fahrrad, vier	like the f in fish
v	w	Wein, Wasser, wo	like the v in very
z	s before a vowel	Sonne, See, sieben	like the z in zoo
ts	z	Zeit, Katze, zwölf	like the ts at the end of cats
s	ß	Straße, Fuß, groß	like the s in sip
h	h before a consonant	haben, ich, sehr	like the h in hot
r	r	Rot, fahren, Mutter	a roll in the throat (Rot) or a light flap of the tongue (Mutter)

Long and short vowels

Staat, Stadt, Rate, Ratte, Mode, Möwe, Liebe, Bein, schön, Tür, Bär.

The same vowel can be short or long, and the two sound different: Staat and Stadt are not the same word. Hold the long vowel about twice as long as the short one. The combinations ie and ei, and the umlauts ä, ö and ü, are always long — they never come short.

Vowel	Short	Long	What you hear
a	Stadt	Staat	short a like the a in cat, long a like the a in father
e	Ratte	Rate	short e like the e in bed, long e like the e in beach
i	Kind	Kino	short i like the i in sit, long i like the ee in see
o	oft	Ohr	short o like the o in hot, long o like the o in go
u	Hund	Fluss	short u like the u in put, long u like the oo in moon
ie	—	Liebe, viel	always long, like the ee in see
ei	—	Bein, zwei	always long, like the eye in mine
ü	—	Möwe, Tür	always long, like the ue in true
ö	—	schön, Löwe	always long, like the o in go but with round lips
ä	—	Bär, Käse	always long, like the a in father but with spread lips

Quick check

c-chHow do you pronounce the ch in the word „Buch“?

c-szHow do you say the s at the start of the word „Sonne“?

c-gapFill in the gaps. Write the sound that the German spelling produces.

In „Wein“ klingt das w wie ein englisches .
In „Vater“ klingt das v wie ein englisches .

Match the words to their sounds

c-matchWhich sound do you hear in each word?

Vocabulary

der Laut, die Aussprache, die Betonung, die Silbe, der Zischlaut, das Eszett, die Mundart. aussprechen, betonen, schreiben, kurz, lang.

Twelve words that are all about sound. Say every one of them out loud when you learn it — a word about pronunciation is useless if you cannot pronounce it.

der Lautthe sound
die Aussprachethe pronunciation
die Betonungthe stress
die Silbethe syllable
der Zischlautthe sibilant (the s and z sounds)
das Eszettthe sharp s (ß)
die Mundartthe dialect
aussprechento pronounce
betonento stress
schreibento write
kurzshort
langlong

Write

Write three German words that are difficult to pronounce, and say them out loud.

Use the rules of this lesson: the two ch sounds, long and short vowels, w and v, s and z, the sharp s and the r.

Three words that are difficult to pronounce: Mädchen, Straße and Zwiebel. In Mädchen the ch is soft, like in ich. In Straße the Eszett is a hard s and never a sh. The z in Zwiebel sounds like ts.

Drei Wörter, die schwierig auszusprechen sind: Mädchen, Straße und Zwiebel. In Mädchen ist das Ch weich wie in ich. In Straße klingt das Eszett wie ein scharfes s und nicht wie sh. Das Z in Zwiebel klingt wie ts.

Model answer

More free practice

Deutsche Welle · ABC — alphabet and pronunciation course
The official free DW course that teaches the German sounds of this lesson, with audio.
Easy German — German as it is really spoken
Listen to real people speaking German with English subtitles and train your ear.
dict.cc — German–English dictionary
Look up any word and see how it is written, with examples and pronunciation.
Language Reactor — dual subtitles
Watch German video with English and German subtitles at the same time.

What you can do now

Ich unterscheide das weiche und das harte ch. — I can tell the soft ch from the hard ch.
Ich höre, ob ein Vokal kurz oder lang ist. — I can hear whether a vowel is short or long.
Ich spreche w wie ein englisches v und v wie ein englisches f. — I pronounce the German w like an English v and the v like an English f.
Ich weiß, dass s vor einem Vokal wie z klingt und z wie ts. — I know that an s before a vowel sounds like z and a z sounds like ts.
Ich spreche das Eszett immer wie ein scharfes s. — I always pronounce the sharp s as a hard s.
Ich höre den Unterschied zwischen den beiden r-Lauten. — I hear the difference between the two German r sounds.

Next: Zahlen und Uhrzeit — prices, appointments and the German clock.

Everything above is also in the workbook, with the answers at the end. Download the vocabulary as an Anki deck in the Vocabulary section.