LEVEL 1 :: LESSON 1 - PEOPLE
Pronunciation in German
The table below presents several rules to follow when
reading German sounds. If you get them right and
practise, you’ll be able to read German texts without much
trouble. There are, of course, many exceptions to the rules,
but those will be explained as we progress though the
course. At this stage, a few simple rules below should do.
You see: You say: Examples
Ä e (as in ‘pet’) Männer, schläft
Ü y – similar to i (as in ‘stir’) but your über, Müll
mouth shaped to say a short u sound
y – mouth shaped to say o (as in ‘pot’)
Ö können, Öl
, but say e (as in set)
Ie i – long i: (as in ‘feed’) liegen, Miete
Ei ai (as in ‘pie’) mein, sein
eu oi (as in ‘boy’) Leute, Europa
äu oi (as in ‘boy’) Bäume, Träume
sch sh (as in ‘shoe’) Schule, Englisch
sp (at the
beginning of a shp Sport, spannend
word)
st (at the
beginning of a sht Straße, Strand
word)
s (at the
beginning of a z (as in ‘zebra’) Saal, sagen
word)
z (at the
beginning of a ts (as in ‘let’s’) Zeit, Zitrone
word)
tsch ch (as in ‘child’) Tschechen, Tschüs
ck k (as in ‘kick’) decken, Ecke
chs ks ( as in ‘licks’) wachsen, sechs
h (in the middle Silent, but the preceding vowel nehmen, sehen,
of a word) becomes lengthened gehen
ph ph (as in ‘file’) Phase, Philosophie
Double Pronounced as single consonant Mutter, Anne
consonant, e.g.
ss, mm, nn etc.
–ig (at the end
eeh(as in ‘lichen’) lustig, zwanzig
of a word)
tz, ts ts (as in ‘let’s’) jetzt, putzen
verkaufen,
v f (as in ‘fly’)
verstehen
ß s (as in ‘mass’) groß, Straße
When following letters e, i, ü, ö and
Töchter, Küche,
consonants, pronounced as sh (shock);
ch but: Tochter,
when following letters a, o, u –
Kuchen
pronounced as h (hay)
Like ü, so mouth shaped to say u
y Symbol, Analyse
(put), but really say i (be)
Practice:
1. Schwester, Stadt, sieben, sitzen, fliegen, beim, seine
2. Zug, sehen, ändern, Käse, sprechen, Koch, Köche,
Bach
3. Becher, über, spießig, Sofa, Sport, Engländer,
Ägypten, Zypern
4. laufen, läuft, zehn, zwölf, leben, vier, Spanisch, ihr
5. Eier, Freunde, fröhlich, Kugelschreiber, Großvater,
euer
6. Flugzeug, Deutschland, Jahre, seit, wohnen, Zeit,
arbeiten
7. in der Nähe, heißen, Bäckerei, Eule, zweiundzwanzig
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