German Pronunciation Guide

1. Vowels

a – as in half

e, ä – as in red

i – as in meet

o – as in orange

u – as in boot

ö – as in French “bleu”

ü – as in French “cru”

 

2. Combinations of 2 Vowels

au – as in power

eu, äu – as in royal; German words like Freude

ie – as in meet; German words like Liebe, die

ei, ai – as in fine; German words like dein, hinein

 

3. Consonants

z – pronounced “ts”, as in lets

s – at the beginning and in the middle of a word – soft, as in rose
at the end of a word – hard, as in salt

sch – pronounced “sh”,as in English

st – at the beginning of a word, pronounced “sht”, similar to rushed
in the middle and at the end of a word, as in trust

sp – at the beginning of a word, pronounced “shp”
in the middle and at the end of a word, as lisp

w – pronounced “v”; German words such as Wonne, ewig, wild

v – pronounced “f”; German words such as verlieben, Vögelein

r – pronounced similar to the French, at the back of the throat;
when sung, it is often rolled

ch – after a, o and u, pronounced as in loch
after i, e, ä, ö and ü more softly (at the roof of the mouth)

g – as in good

 

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