DiphthongsDiphthong
Double
VowelsAussprache
PronunciationBeispiele / Examplesai / eieyebei (at, near), das Ei (egg), der Mai (May)auowauch (also), das Auge (eye), aus (out of)eu / äuoyHäuser (houses), Europa (Europe), neu (new)ieeehbieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you)
Grouped ConsonantsBuchstabe
ConsonantAussprache
PronunciationBeispiele / Examplesckk**** (fat, thick), der Schock (shock)ch>>After a, o, u and au, pronounced like the guttural ch in Scottish "loch" - das Buch (book), auch (also). Otherwise it is a palatal sound as in: mich (me), welche (which), wirklich (really). TIP: If no air is passing over your tongue when you say a ch-sound, you aren't saying it correctly. No true equivalent in English. - Although ch doesn't usually have a hard k sound, there are exceptions: Chor, Christoph, Chaos, Orchester, Wachs (wax)pfpfBoth letters are (quickly) pronounced as a combined puff-sound: das Pferd (horse), der Pfennig. If this is difficult for you, an f sound will work, but try to do it!phfdas Alphabet, phonetisch - Some words formerly spelled with ph are now spelled with f: das Telefon, das Fotoqukvdie Qual (anguish, torture), die Quittung (receipt)schshschön (pretty), die Schule (school) - The German sch combination is never split, whereas sh usually is (Grashalme, Gras/Halme; but die Show, a foreign word).sp / stshp / shtAt the start of a word, the s in sp/st has a sch sound as in English "show, she." sprechen (speak), stehen (stand)thtdas Theater (tay-AHTER), das Thema (TAY-muh), topic - Always sounds like a t (TAY). NEVER has the English th sound!





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