Chapter#2

Exercise for practice :

Pronounce the following words –

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Boot Boot Boat
Bank Bahnk Bank
Aber Ah-buh But
Beste Bes-tuh Best
Dort Dort There
Dies Dees This
Danke Dahn-kuh Thanks
Leider Laai-duh Unfortunately
Fallen Fah-lun Fall
Darf Dah-rf May
Werfen Wer-fuhn Throw
fretag Free-tahk Friday

Note: The German words end with voiceless consonant sounds. The final letter may be a voiced
consonant, but it is pronounced voiceless. Primarily, 3 German consonants are affected by this :
Voiced Consonant Voiceless Example Pronunciation Meaning
Consonant
Counterpart
B (bay) P (pay) Gib Geep Give
D (day) T (tay) Kind Kint Child
G (gay) K(kah) Tag Tuck Day

Pronunciation of Consonants

1. Gg
 It is pronounced like in english in beginning or middle of word
 Example

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Gegen Gay-gen Against
Bogen Boh-gen Curve,bend

 At the end of the word, “g” changes into voiceless counterpart “k”
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Tag Tuck Day
Klug Klook Smart

2. Hh

At the beginning of the word, the sound of “h” is like the sound of “h” in english

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Halt Huhlt Halt,stop
Hey Hoy hay

Most often it is not pronounced in the middle of a word unless it is part of a combination of
consonants.

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Gehen Gay-en Go
Sehen Zay-en See
 3. Jj

It is pronounced like the English “Y”.

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Jung Young Young
Jagen Yah-gen Hunt

There are few foreign words in which the consonant J sounds like English “j”.

Example - Jazz, Jogging.

4. K

Same sound k , no matter its position oin the word.

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Klasse Kluh-she Class
Schicken Shick-en Send
Buk Book Baked

5. L

This consonant has same sound as in English.

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Liegen Lee-gen Lie,recline
Keller Kell-uh Cellar
Will Vill want

6. M

This consonant has same sound as in English.

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Mund Moont Mouth
Atmen Aht-men Breathe
Schwimm Shvim swim

7. N

This consonant has same sound as in English, nasal consonant

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Nein Nine No
Rennen Ren-nen Run
Braun Brown Brown

Exercise for practice :

Pronounce the following words –

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Gut Bahnk Good
Gelb yellow
Magen Stomach
Freitag Friday
Hut Hat
Heben Lift
Lehren Teach
Haben Have
Jodler Yodeler
Junge Boy
Jahr Year
Jurist Lawyer
Klein Little
Wecker Alarm
Kissen Clock
Kurz Short
Mag Like
Muss Must
Warm Warm
Sturm Storm
Nett Nice
Nase Nose
Donner Thunder
Gewinn Gain/win
 8. P
 The sound is similar to English
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Park Park Park
Lippe Lip-peh Lip
Klapp Klup Lift up, turn down

9. Q

This letter is often combined with “U” and together pronounced like “kv”

 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Qualitat Kvah-lee-tate Quality
Quer Kvair Sideways

10. R
 The siund is similar to French ‘R’ or guttural ‘R’
 At the end of the word, the “uh” sound comes

Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Reise Rye-zeh Trip
Sparen Shpah-ren Save
Bruder Broo-duh Brother
Schwester Shves-tuh Sister

11. S
 In the beginning or middle of word, the sound is of “z”.
 If it is a double “SS” , it is pronounced as “SS”
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Singen Zing-en Sing
Leise Lye-zeh Soft,quiet
Schloss Shlawss Palace

12. T
 Pronounced like English “T”
  When it is followed by “h”, it is still pronounced like English “t”
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Tanken Tunk-en Fill up with gas
Raten Rah-ten Advise
Theorie Tay-oh-ree Theory

13. V
 This is pronounced like “F”
 In many foreign words, it sounds like an English V
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Viel Feel Much
Vor Fore Before
Version Vare-zee-one Version
Vase Vah-zeh Vase

14. W
 It has the sound as in wnglish consonant “V”
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Wasser Wuss-uh Water
Volkswagen Folks-vah-gen Beetle, people’s car
Wiegen Vee-gen Weigh
Wo Voe Where

15. X
 Sounds like English “X”
 Example:

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Sex Zecks Sex
X-beine Icks-bye-neh Knock knees
X-Strahlen Icks-shtrah-len X-rays

16. Z
 Pronounced like English “ts” example as as in “hats”
 Example:
German Word Pronunciation Meaning
Zeit Tsyte Time
Zug Tsook Train
Walzer Vultz-uh Waltz
Platz Plutz Place,space

Pronounce the following words –

German Word Pronunciation Meaning

Party Party
Preis Prize
Tapete Wallpaper
Kupfer Copper
Quark Curd cheese
Qualifizieren Qualify
Quitting Receipt
Quorum Quorum
Rollschuh Roller
Recht Skate
Fahren Right
Butter Butter
Suppe Soup
Sagen Say
Messen Measure
Besen Broom
True Loyal
Flirt Flirtation
Flotte Fleet
Bart Beard
Verkehrt Wrong
Voll Full
Vier Four
Vulgar Vular
Warum Why
Wer Who
Verwendung Else
Anderswo Elsewhere
Zu To
Blitz Lightning
Kratzen Scratch
Zeppelin zeppelin