SOUNDS

Long vowels (rules of thumb)

Vowel is long

 if followed by 1 consonant
 if followed by “h”; remember the “h” after a vowel is silent and makes the vowel
long
 if doubled

long a aah Haar (hair)

long e ay gehen (go)

long i eee Berlin (Berlin)

long o oh Rose (rose)

long u uu Bruder (brother)

long ä ay Bär (bear)

long ö mouth says “ay” schön (pretty; nice)

while lips form “oh”

long ü mouth says “eee” Brüder (brothers)

long y while lips form “ooo” as in “food” Lyrik (poetry)

Short vowels (rules of thumb)

Vowel is short

 if followed by 2 consonants
 if word belongs to group of 1-syll. words ending in consonant

short a a Apfel (apple)

short e eh Ende (end)

short i i mit (with)

short o o kommen (come)

short u “put” und (and)

short ä eh Bäckerei (bakery)

short ö mouth says “eh” zwölf (12)

while lips form “oh”

short ü mouth says “i” as in “fit” fünf (5)

short y while lips form “ooo” as in “food” Idylle (idyll)

Diphthongs

ei “eye” Wein (wine)

ey Meyer (a last name)
ai Mai (month of May)
ay Mayer (a last name)

ie eee Bier (beer)

eu oy neu (new)
äu träumen (to dream)

au ow braun (brown)

Consonants, consonant combinations …

b @ end p ob (whether)

d @ end t Abend (evening)

g @ end k Tag (day)

j y ja (yes)

ch “huge” Buch (book)

chs x sechs (6)

sch sh Schuh (shoe)

tsch ch Deutsch (German)

s before vowel z sauer (sour)

s als (than; as; when)

ss s Kuss (kiss)
ß Straße (street)

sp @ beginning shp Sport (sports)

st @ beginning sht stehen (stand)

v f vier (four)
v Video (video)

w v wie (how)

z zehn (10)
c before e ts (“pizza”) Celsius (Celsius)
-tion Nation (nation)

pf pf Pfeffer (pepper)

qu kv Quatsch (nonsense)

ig - (like German “ich”)

Honig (honey)
zwanzig (20)

r like the French “r” rot (red)

in the back of the throat