GermanPronunciation

German is pronounced in the way that it's written ✍️ – there are just a couple of rules to remember.

• "ä" prounanced like "e" in the word “bet”
• "ie" pronounced like the "ee" in "sheep".

• "ei" is pronounced like the y in "my".

• "sch" is pronounced like the "sh" in "sheep".

• "ch" is the quintessential German sound - It sounds a bit like a hissing cat 😾 and it's hard to learn.

• "w" in German is pronounced like a "v" in English.

• "v" is pronounced like an f, in words of German origin

• "v" is pronounced like an English v in words of Latin origin,

• If a word begins with sp- or st-, we pronounce the s like English sh.

• The z in German is pronounced like "ts". It's important to think of this "hidden t", or else you could get misunderstood.

Created: 22 Aug 2022

Last Update: 31 Sep 2022