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Introduction to German pronunciation
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| These pages will help you learn how to pronounce the sounds of German. On the page for each set of sounds, you can click on words to hear them pronounced by a native speaker. You must, of course, have a sound card and speakers or headphones connected to your computer, in order to hear them. When you click on any word, you will hear it pronounced. You can also turn on a feature through which you can record your own voice and compare your pronunciation to that of a native speaker. If English is your native language, you will have to exaggerate certain lip and mouth configurations in order to pronounce German words correctly. For example, to pronounce some German vowels correctly, you must round or spread your lips much more, or place your tongue higher or flatter or further back in the mouth than required for any English vowel. In general, the muscles of the mouth, lips, tongue, throat and neck must be much tenser for producing German sounds than English sounds. Some German consonants are articulated at points where no English consonants are, or require less aspiration (release of air) than similar English consonants. |
Spelling |
| The spelling of German words is a very good indicator of how they should be pronounced, once you are familiar with certain spelling conventions and some variations based on a sound's environment. For example, long vowels are generally doubled, or followed by a silent h or single consonant. Short vowels are generally followed by a double consonant. The letters ss and ß (called scharfes s) are equivalent. The ss is used when the preceding vowel is short and the ß when the preceding vowel is long. |
Capitalization |
| All German nouns are capitalized. This sometimes makes it difficult to determine whether a word beginning with a capital letter is a common noun or a proper name. Thus, for example, Schneider could refer to a tailor or to a person named Schneider. Unlike English, adjectives which refer to nationality are not capitalized. Thus das amerikanische Auto = the American car. The German counterpart for English "I" (ich) is not capitalized, but the formal counterpart for English "you" (Sie) is. |
Minimal pairs |
On these pages, the screens relating to specific sounds show pairs of words which generally differ from each other only in the sounds under scrutiny. Thus you should concentrate on isolating the differences (highlighted in red) between those sounds as you hear and practice them. In some instances, comparisons are drawn between English and German sounds, or between German sounds which are more familiar and those which are less familiar to native speakers of English. You can imitate and improve your pronunciation by clicking on the slider icon in the upper right corner of a page, then clicking on a word to hear it and immediately saying it yourself. When you first start this, your device will ask you for permission to use your microphone for recording. After that the recording will happen automatically, unless you turn it off again using the slider. It will record for three seconds, then play back your recording. |
Other online resources |
Here are some links to other online resources for learning and practicing German pronunciation:
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