Great news! On our website there is an opportunity pronunciationthere is any German text. To do this simply highlight German text or word anywhere on our site And Click the "Play" button at the bottom right(white triangle in black circle). You will then hear the text spoken in German. We recommend using this function in the Phrasebook section of our website.

Features of reading consonants:

1) The letter h at the beginning of a word or root is read as an aspirated x: Herz (heart). In the middle and at the end of words, it is not read, but serves to lengthen the previous vowel: fahren (to ride), froh (cheerful, joyful).

2) The letter j is pronounced like y, and in combinations ja and ju the Russian ear hears ya and yu: Jahr (year), Juni (June).

3) The letter I always softens when reading: Blume (flower).

4) The sound r is pronounced by most Germans with a burr: Regen (rain).

5) The letter s before or between vowels is read as z: Sonne (sun), lesen (read).

6) The letter ß is read as s: groß (big).

7) Consonants k,p, t are pronounced with some aspiration: Park (park), Torte (cake), Ko†fer (suitcase).

8) The letter v is pronounced like f: Vater (father). Only in rare cases (most often in borrowed words) is it pronounced as in: Vase (vase).

9) The letter w is read like the Russian sound in: Wort (word).

10) Double consonants are read as single consonants, but at the same time they shorten the vowel in front: Sommer (summer), Mutter (mother).

In German, not every consonant sound has a corresponding letter. In some cases, they resort to letter combinations:

1) The letter combination sp at the beginning of words and roots is read as sp: Sport (sport).

2) The letter combination st at the beginning of words and roots is read as pc: Stern (star).

3) The letter combination ck is read as k: backen (oven).

4) The letter combination chs is read as ks: sechs (six).

5) The letter combination ch is read as x: Buch (book), machen (to do).

6) The letter combination sch is read as sh: Schule (school), Schwester (sister).

7) The letter combination tsch is read as h: deutsch (German).

8) The letter combination qu is read as kv: Quark (cottage cheese).

The German alphabet has specific letters with two dots on top (Umlaut):

1) The letter ä is closest to the Russian e: Mädchen (girl).

2) The letter ö is read approximately like ё: schön (beautiful).

3) The letter ü is read almost like yu: Müll (garbage).

Vowel letter combinations:

1) The letter combination ie is read as long and: Bier (beer).

2) The letter combination ei is read as ay: Heimat (Homeland).

3) The letter combination eu is read as oh: heute (today).\

4) The letter combination äu is read as oh: Bäume (trees).

5) Doubling a vowel indicates the length of the sound: Tee (tea), Paar (pair), Boot (boat).

In some ways, the German language is similar to Russian. In German, voiced consonants at the end of words are also muted during pronunciation, despite possible misunderstandings. So, for example, it is impossible to distinguish a (Rad) wheel from a (Rat) tip by ear.

Features of reading at the ends of words:

1) The ending -er is pronounced rather slurred in some regions of Germany: Kinder (children).

2) At the end of words -ig is read as their: wichtig (important).

Accent Features:

1) The stress in German usually falls on the first syllable: Ausländer (foreigner), aufmachen (open). The exception is words borrowed from other languages: Computer. There are quite a lot of such borrowings in the German language.

2) If a word has an unstressed prefix (be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-, miss-), then the stress shifts to the next syllable: verkaufen (to sell), bekommen (to receive).

3) The suffix -tion (read as tion) always pulls the emphasis onto itself: Kommunikation (communication, connection).

Exercise 1

Practice pronouncing the following words and learn their meanings at the same time:

Strand (beach), Reise (travel), Leute (people), Zeit (time), Frühling (spring), Herbst (autumn), Fleisch (meat), Fisch (fish), Wein (wine), Kaffee (coffee), Zwieback (cracker), Radieschen (radish), richtig (correct), Schule (school), Volk (people)

Julia Grosche, "German for Beginners"

Vowels


"A Umlaut" is read as "e": Märchen [märchen] - a fairy tale.

Consonants


Z [tset] is read as "ts": Ziel [tsil] - goal
S [es] is read as “s”: Haus [house] - house, but if S is before or between vowels, it is read as “z”: Sofa [zofa] - sofa, lesen - read.
ß [esset] is read as a long “s”: Straße [strasse] - street.
Sometimes it is very difficult to determine whether a word should be written “ss” or “ß”. In accordance with the new rules of the German language, ß is written after a long vowel or double vowel, and ss after a short vowel: wissen - weiß, dass, groß.

F [ef], V [fau] are read as “f”: Fox [fox] - fox, Volk [folk] - people. In borrowed words, V is read as “in”: Vase - vase.
J [yot] is read as “th”: Joghurt [yogurt] - actually, yogurt :).
L [el] - reads like "l", average between soft and hard "l", but closer to soft: Lampe [lampe] - lamp.
R [er] is read as a graded “r” (that is, burry), at the end of a word or syllable it is read as a short “a”: Russland [Russland] - Russia, Mutter [mutta] - mother.
H [ha] at the beginning of a word or root is read as an exhalation: Haus [house] – house, and in the middle or at the end of the root (after a vowel) it is not read at all: gehen - to go, Kuh - cow.

Letter combinations of consonants

ch is read as "x": Loch [loch] - hole,
chs is read as "ks": Fuchs [fuchs] - fox,
sch is read as "sh": Schrank [shrank] - closet,
sp/st at the beginning of a word or at the beginning of a root is read as "shp/sht": spontan [spontan] - spontaneous / Stuhl (shtul) - chair,
tsch is read as a hard “h”: Deutsch [deutsch] - German language, Quatsch [kvach] - nonsense,
ck is read as a hard “k”: drücken [dryuken] - to press,
qu is read as "kv": Quatsch [kvach] - nonsense,
The suffix -tion (always stressed) is read as something between “tsion” and “tsion”: Station [stations] - station.

Vowel letter combinations

ei is read as "ai": Weimar [Weimar] (name of a city in Germany),
ie is read as a long “and”: Liebe [libe] - love,
eu is read as "oh": heute [hoyte] - today,
äu is also read as “oh”: Häuser [hoyzer] - at home.

Emphasis in German words almost always everything falls on the first syllable, except:
1) words with unstressed prefixes (be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-, emp-, miss-);
2) borrowed words (Computer);
3) some other exceptions (for example, warum).

If a syllable ends with a consonant, then the vowel in it will be short, if it ends with a vowel, then it will be long:
da (long “a”) - das (short “a”).
However, the syllable has a consonant sound at the end (and according to the rule above must be short), but in the form plural If the syllable of this word opens, it will be long:
Tag (day) - Ta-ge (days), gut (good) - gu-te (good), kam (came) - ka-men (came).

In this case, the letter combination of consonants also leads to a short syllable:
kochen (cook), backen (oven), waschen (wash).

In a number of uninflected monosyllabic words ending in "r" the syllable is long:
wer (who), er (he), der (definitive article), nur (only), mir (to me), dir (to you) ...
Longitude can be expressed by doubling a vowel, for example:
Tee (tea).

Quite often, longitude is indicated by the letter “h” (which itself is not pronounced), compare: in - ihn. Sometimes this “h” is redundant, since even without it it would take a long time to pronounce, but it is preserved due to historical tradition: gehen (to go), nahm (took).

If a word or the root of a word begins with a vowel, then it is pronounced with a strained, abrupt sound (“hard attack”):
"alles (everything), "und (and), "ich (I), "Esel (donkey), ver"arbeiten (recycle).

There is no need to pronounce e at the ending -en:
machen (to do) - read: "mahn".

The sound x, as you already know, is conveyed by the letter combination ch. If before ch there is any “narrow” (pronounced with a narrow mouth) vowel (i, e, ö, ü), double vowel eu (oh) or consonant l, n, r, then this letter combination is pronounced softly - x.”
ich (I) - ich, richtig (correct) - richtikh, sprechen (speak) - sprech "en, euch (you, to you) - oh"), solche (such) - solch "e.
Note that -ig (at the end of a word) is pronounced iх.

The consonants p, t, k are pronounced aspirated:
Peter, Tee, Kaffee.

Voiced consonants at the end of a word are deafened (as in Russian: oak is read dup, but not as in English: dog):
Tag, gab (gave), Hund (dog).

Voiced consonants are generally not as voiced as in Russian, but seem to be a little muffled. They need to be pronounced weakly, without pressure:
sehen (to see), Gott (God), Beeren (berries).


A [a], O [o], E [e], U [y], I [i] are read that way, everything is simple here.
Vowels are pronounced short or long (more on this below).

The vowels Ö and Ü with an umlaut (Umlaut - two dots above the letter at the top) are pronounced with a narrower mouth (with less lip opening) than their corresponding vowels without an umlaut:
schon [schon] (already) - schön [schön] (wonderful), Zug [zug] (train) - Züge [quge] (trains).

" a="" umlaut="" m="">Y (upsilon) is read as “yu”: Lyrik [liurik] - lyrics.

Consonants

W [ve] is read as “in”: was? [you] - what?
Z...">

Typically, studying foreign languages It's a good idea to start with the very basics, i.e. from the alphabet and reading rules. German- not an exception. German alphabet, like English, is based on the Latin alphabet, but it also has some differences that you need to know.

So, German alphabet contains 26 letters. A distinctive feature is considered to be umlauts (vowel letters with dots, for example: Ä-ä, Ü-ü, Ö-ö) and the ligature ß. Visually it looks like this:

German alphabet pronunciation

Just knowing the alphabet is not enough, since in some combinations not all letters are read as they are written. Here are some solid rules for reading German:

Rules for reading individual letters:
s= [z] Before vowels. S ofa, s o, S onne
s= [s] At the end of a word/syllable. W as d as H aus
ß = [s] short Can't read like the double "s" in the word "cash"! gro ß ,fu ß ball, blo ß
h= [exhale] At the beginning of a word or syllable it is read as a slight exhalation. After the vowel is not read, but gives length to the vowel sound. H anna, h aben, h elfen, wo h in S eh en, ih m, B ah n h of
y= ["soft"] Something between “u” and “yu” as in the word m Yu if t y Pisch, G y mnastik
r= [“burry” p] At the beginning of a word or syllable. R enate, R egel, R epublik, ge r adeaus
r= [a] At the end of a word or syllable. wi r,mi r,ve r Gessen, Zimme r
x= [ks] Te x t, bo x en
v= [f] In most cases. v iel, v erstehen, v or
v= [in] In borrowings. V erb V ase
w=[in] W o, w ir, W ohnung, W inter
c= [s] In borrowed words. C ity
c=[k] In borrowed words. C afe, C computer
ä = [e] As in the word " uh ra" H ä nde, kl ä ren
ö ["soft" about] As in the word "m" e d." K ö nnen, K ö ln, Ö sterreich
ü ["soft"] As in the word "m" Yu sli." m ü de, m ü ssen, f ü nf

Longitude and shortness of vowels:
a, e, i, o, u, ä, ö, ü= , , , , , [ ɛː ], [ øː ] [ yː] [: ] = longitudesound In an open or conditionally closed syllable (i.e., when the form of the word changes, the syllable can again become open). The length and shortness of a sound affects the meaning of a word! m a len, l e sen, Masch i ne, r o t,d u, g u t, sp ä t, b ö se, m ü de
ah,eh,ih,oh,uh, äh, öh, üh = [a:], [e:], [i:], [o:], [u:], [ɛː], [ øː] [ yː] [: ] = longitudesound W ah l, s eh en, ih n,w oh nen, K uh, Z ah ne, S Oh ne, fr uh
aa, ee, oo= , , [: ] = longitudesound S aal, S ee, B oo t

We read the following combinations like this:
ch= [hard "x"] Bu ch,ma ch en, la ch en
ch= [xx] Before "i" and "e". Ich, m ich, r ech ts
sch= [w] Sch ule, Ti sch, sch reiben
ck= [k] le ck er, Sche ck,
chs= [ks] se chs,wa chs en
ph= [f] Ph oto, Ph ysik
qu= [kv] Qu adrat, Qu elle
th= [t] Th eater Th ema
tsch= [h] Tsch echien, deu tsch
tion= [tsyon] Funk tion, Produk tion
pf= [pf] Pf erd, Pf ennig
sp= [shp] At the beginning of a word and syllable. Sp ort, sp rechen
st= [pcs] At the beginning of a word and syllable. St unde, ver st ehen
ng= [nasal n] The letter “g” is not readable, but the sound “n” is pronounced through the nose. Übu ng, bri ng en, si ng en
ig= [ugh] richt ig, wicht ig

Rules for reading diphthongs (double vowels)
ei= [ouch] m ei n, s ei n, Arb ei t, Ei
ai= [ouch] M ai, M ai n
ie= [and] long Br ie f, h ie r,
eu= [ouch] N eu,d eu tsch Eu ro
äu= [ouch] R äu me, H äu ser
au= [ay] H au s, br au n

Well, we’ve sorted out the reading rules a little. I would also like to give advice on pronunciation in German. But this is in other articles on our website.

Basic letter combinations in German:

ei – [ay] – mein (mine), dein (yours), nein (no), kein (none)
ie – [and:] – liegen (lie), biegen (turn)
s is read as z if it is followed by a vowel – sieben (seven)
ch – [x] – ich (I), machen (to do), nicht (not)
sch – [w] – schon (already), schreiben (to write)
tsch – [h] – Deutschland (Germany), deutsch (German)
eu – [oh] – neu (new), neun (nine)
tz – [ts] – sitzen (sit)
eh – [e:] – nehmen (take), lehren (teach)
je – [e] – jetzt (now)
ju – [yu] – jubeln (rejoice, have fun), jucken (itch, itch)
ja – [ya] – ja (yes), Jacke (jacket, jacket)
qu – [kv] – Quatsch (nonsense)
sp – [shp] – spielen (play), sprechen (speak)
st – [piece] – stehen (stand), Stunde (hour)
ck – [kk] – Ecke (angle)
chs – [ks] – wachsen (grow)
v – [f] – vorstellen, vorbeikommen
z – [ts] – zusammen, Zukunft
4 letters you need to remember:
Öö – position of the tongue as with e, and lips - as with o
Ää - like e at the beginning of a word and after vowels, e - after consonants
Üü – position of the tongue as with and, and lips - as with y
ß – [ss]

read the text along with the speaker:

Die Beste

Guten Tag, wir sind "die Beste", wir sind Künstler aus Deutschland. Dürfen wir uns vorstellen?

Mein Name ist Christoph Besemer. Ich komme aus Hamburg, und ich wohne da auch. Mein Hobby ist vor allem Musik. Ich spiele Klavier; aber mein Beruf ist Lehrer.

Ich bin Gerd Friedrich. Im normalen Leben bin ich Arzt. Ich arbeite in einer Klinik. Ich bin verheiratet und habe einen Sohn. Meine Frau arbeitet auch. Wir wohnen in einem kleinen Dorf nicht weit von Hamburg. Es heißt Bleibach. Meine Hobbys sind Akrobatik und Clowntheater.

Hallo, mein Name ist Petra Obergfell. Ich komme aus einer sehr musikalischen Familie. Ich spiele und unterrichte Gitarre. Ich habe viele Schüler. Sie kommen zu mir in Bleibach, wo Gerd auch wohnt. Wir sind fast Nachbarn. Ich habe eine Tochter. Sie ist acht und heißt Jana. Ihr Vater wohnt nicht mehr bei uns. Er lebt jetzt in Berlin, das ist aber weit von Bleibach.

Und ich bin der Guido. Ich bin Deutscher. Meine Eltern wohnen schon immer in Deutschland, und wir heißen Chudoba. Auch mein Bruder und meine Schwester heißen so. Ich bin drei Jahre älter als Gerd. Meine Frau heißt Anita, und wir haben drei Kinder. Martin (8) und Julia und Diana (5). Die Mädchen sind Zwillinge. Sie gehen zusammen in den Kindergarten. Martin ist schon an der Grundschule. Von Beruf bin ich jetzt Computerprogrammerer. Ich bin auch sehr sportlich. Ich wohne im Norden. Die Stadt heißt Rostok. Es liegt nicht weit von Kiel. Ich arbeite in Kiel, aber das ist nicht so weit von hier.

German alphabet watch video:

Reading some letters and letter combinations is related to spelling rules. You may have noticed some examples already in the transcription - for example, reading s like [z] or qu How .

Letters representing vowels
ä ["a`um"la͜ot] and umlaut pronounced as [ε:] or [ε], uh Gäste ["gεstə] - guests
Kälte ["kεltə] - cold
ö ["o`um"la͜ot] o umlaut pronounced as [ø:] or [œ], ё Köln - Cologne
mögen ["mø:gən] - love, like
ü ["y`um"la͜ot] at umlaut pronounced as or [y], yu Tüte ["ty:tə] - bag, package
Müller ["mylɐ] - miller; Müller (surname)
Letter combinations indicating vowels
ie Liebe ["li:bə] - Love
Miene ["mi:nə] - facial expression
die- definite article w.r.(in the flow of speech the vowel is shortened)
Letter combinations denoting diphthongs
ei ah ein - indefinite article m.r. and w.r.
mein - my
dein - is yours
ai Mai- May
Rainer - Rainer
au aw aus - from
Haus- house
Maus- mouse
eu [ɔø] Ouch neun (noyn) - nine
heute ["hɔøtə] (hoite) - Today
Europa [ɔøro:pa] - Europe
äu [ɔø] Ouch Bäume ["bɔømə] (boime) - trees
Säule ["zɔølə] (zoile) - Column
Letters representing consonants
c ts (rarely found separately, more often as part of letter combinations) Cäsar ["tsε:zar] - Caesar
g [g] Gast- guest
legen ["le:gən] - put
[ʒ] f (borrowed from French) Etage [ε"ta:ʒə] - floor
Garage - garage
j (borrowed from English) Manager ["mεnεdʒɐ] - manager
h [h] x (like exhalation) at the beginning of a word hallo - Hello
haben ["ha:bən] - have
halt - stop, stop
lengthens vowel nah- close, close
gehen ["ge:ən] - go(not readable between vowels)
q acts in combination qu and reads like Quelle ["kvεlə] (kv e le) - source
Quittung ["kvituŋ] (kv And tung) - receipt
s [z] in single writing (at the beginning of a word and between vowels) Sie- You (polite form)
sagen ["za:gən] - talk, say
so- So
Dose ["do:zə] - jar, tin
[s] in writing ss Klasse ["klasə] - Class
Masse ["masə] - weight
ß [s] heißen ["ha͜esən] - to be called, to be called
weiß - white
v [f] in native German words and early borrowings (that is, as a rule) viel - a lot of
vier - four
von - from, from
Vers- poem
[v] in later borrowings (from Latin and French) Variante - option
Vacuum ["vacuum] - vacuum
z Zentrum ["tsentrum] - center
Zirkus ["tsirkus] - circus
zu- To
Letter combinations denoting consonants
ch [x] (x) after a, o, u ach- Oh
noch - more
Touch - scarf, fabric
[ç] (хь) after e, i, ä, ö, ü ich [ɪç] - I
mich - me
nicht - Not
[k] in single words Character - character
Christa ["krista] - Krista
ck [k] dick - thick
nicken ["nɪkən] - nod
packen ["pakən] - pack
chs sechs - six
wachsen ["vaksən] - grow
Fuchs- fox
sch [ʃ] w Schule ["ʃulə] - school
schön [ʃø:n] - wonderful, wonderful
Tasche ["taʃə] - bag
tsch Deutsch (Deutsch) - German
Tschüs (tshyus) - bye bye
sp [ʃp] (shp) at the beginning of the word and the root of the word Spaß [ʃpa:s] - pleasure
spät [ʃpε:t] - late, late
Spiel [ʃpi:l] - a game
(sp) in the middle of a word Wespe ["vεspə] - wasp
Espe ["εspə] - aspen
st [ʃt] at the beginning of the word and the root of the word stehen ["ʃte:ən] - stand
Stau [ʃtao] - traffic jam
Stuhl [ʃtu:l] - chair
in the middle of a word gestern ["gestɐn] - yesterday
Liste ["lɪstə] - list
Westen ["vεstən] - west

nn, ll, tt etc. - double spelling of a consonant does not mean a long (double) consonant, but the shortness of the previous vowel (see above the word Müller in the transcription).

Important to remember(especially for those who have previously studied other foreign languages):

  • s means [z]. Hint: Saal and Rose, which means "hall" and "rose".
  • v means [f] in original words (more common in everyday life), [v] - in borrowings. Clue: v on - the preposition “from”, found in the names of the German nobility: von Eschenbach - von Eschenbach, von Bismarck - von Bismarck(remember the old joke: “von-baron”).
  • z means . Clue: Z entrum and Z irkus, which means " ts center" and " ts irk."
  • ei means ah. Hint: eins, zwei, drei - “one-two-three.” Everyone knows how to pronounce it.