German Pronunciation Guide

Vowels


Each vowel has a short and a long version. As a general rule, vowels are long when followed by a single consonant or by h and short when followed by two consonants. All double vowels are long.

Written as

Example

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a   short
wann
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     long
sagen
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e   short
essen
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     long
Regen
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i   short
immer
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     long
Kino
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o   short
noch
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     long
wo
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u   short
und
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     long
Fuß
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ä   short
Männer
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     long
spät
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ö   short
können
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     long
mögen
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ü   short
müssen
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     long
müde
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Vowel combinations


Written as

Example

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au    long
Frau, Haus
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äu    long
Häuser, Bäume
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ei    long
ein, mein
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eu    long
heute, Leute
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ie    long
die, Spiel
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Consonants

Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The exceptions are:

Written as

Example

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b  at end of word
ab
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d  at end of word
Kind
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g  at end of word
Tag
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h  at end of syllable
nehmen, froh
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j    
ja, jung
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s  before a vowel
Samstag, Gemüse
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s  otherwise
lustig
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z
zwei, ganz
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v
viel, vor
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v
vanilla
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w
wie, wo
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ß
Fuß, Großmutter
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Letter combinations

Written as

Example

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ch  after a, o, u, au
Tochter, Kuchen
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ch  otherwise
euch, möchten
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sch
Flasche, Geschenk
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tsch
Deutsch
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ig  at end of word
dreißig, fertig
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sp  generally
Sprache
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st  generally
Stunde
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Alphabet

 

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ABC
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DEF
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GHI
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JKL
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MNO
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PQR
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STU
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VW
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XYZ
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