Learn the basics of German pronunciation, including vowels, umlauts, consonants, and regional variations. Practice key sounds with examples like Bär, Katze, schön, früh, and Liebe to improve your speaking and listening skills at the beginner (A1) level.
- Final consonants are often pronounced voiceless (e.g. lieb → /liːp/).
| Ä /ɛ/ | Bär (Bear) | K oder CK /k/ | Katze, backen (Katze, backen) |
| Ö /øː/, /œ/ | schön, öffnen (beautiful, to open) | M /m/ | Mutter (Mother) |
| Ü /yː/, /ʏ/ | früh, fünf (early, five) | N /n/ | Nacht (Night) |
| CH (weich) /ç/ | ich (ich) | NG /ŋ/ | singen (singen) |
| CH (hart) /x/ | Buch (Book) | PF /pf/ | Pferd (Pfhorse) |
| EU oder ÄU /ɔʏ̯/ | heute, Häuser (today, houses) | QU /kv/ | Quelle (Quell) |
| EI /aɪ̯/ | Ei, mein (Egg, my) | R /ʁ/ | Rot (Red) |
| H /h/ | Haus (House) | S (am Wortanfang) /z/ | Sonne (Sun) |
| IE /iː/ | Liebe (Love) | V /f/ | Vater (Father) |
| J /j/ | Jahr (Year) | Z /ts/ | Zeit (Zime) |
Exceptions!
- The 'r' is pronounced differently depending on the region – in the south often as a tongue-tip 'r', in the north as a guttural sound.
- Umlauts ä, ö, ü are independent vowels – they do not sound like simple variants of a, o, u and often change the meaning of a word (e.g. "schon" vs. "schön").
Exercise 1: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct solution
1. Ich heiße Anna. Und du? Wie ______ du?
(My name is Anna. And you? What ______ you?)2. Der Herr Müller sagt: "______ mich!"
(Mr. Müller says: "______ to meet you!")3. Ich ______ jetzt nach Hause.
(I ______ going home now.)4. Das deutsche Alphabet ______ 26 Buchstaben.
(The German alphabet ______ 26 letters.)5. Wie ist deine ______? Herr oder Frau?
(What is your ______? Mr. or Mrs.?)6. Ich ______ mich vor: Ich heiße Peter Schmidt.
(I ______ myself: My name is Peter Schmidt.)
