German grammar › A1
Pronunciation — consonants
Level A1 · w v z j · two ch sounds · sp st · s · hard endings · r · qu pf ng
Which consonants sound different?
Most consonants are like English. A few are not: w, v, z, j, the two ch sounds, sp / st, s before a vowel, and b, d, g at the end of a word.
Pattern
ich (soft) · Buch (deep) · Sport = shp
Examples
- Hund — the d at the end sounds like t
Watch out: Soft ch is not sh: ich is not “ish”.
Which letters look English but aren’t?
Four letters look familiar but sound different: w, v, z and j.
- Wasser — water (w = English v)
- Wein — wine (w = English v)
- Vater — father (v = f)
- viel — much (v = f)
- Zeit — time (z = ts)
- Katze — cat (tz = ts)
- ja — yes (j = y)
- Jahr — year (j = y)
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- Vase · Klavier · Universität — here v sounds like English v
The letter pair German is famous for comes next: ch.
What sound is ch?
ch has two sounds. After a, o, u, au it is deep in the throat. Everywhere else it is soft, like the h in English “huge”.
Deep ch — after a, o, u, au
- Bach — stream
- doch — yes, though
- Buch — book
- auch — also
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Soft ch — everywhere else
- ich — I
- nicht — not
- Milch — milk
- durch — through
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ich is not “ish”. Smile slightly and push air, like the start of “huge”.
Three more ch rules
- zwanzig — twenty (-ig at the end = soft ch)
- König — king (-ig = soft ch)
- sechs — six (chs = ks)
- Fuchs — fox (chs = ks)
- Chef — boss (borrowed word: sh)
- Chor — choir (borrowed word: k)
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sch is easy — but it hides inside sp and st too.
sch, sp and st
sch = sh. At the start of a word (or word part), sp and st sound like “shp” and “sht”.
- Schule — school (sch = sh)
- Fisch — fish (sch = sh)
- Sport — sport (shp)
- spielen — to play (shp)
- Straße — street (sht)
- verstehen — to understand (sht — stehen is a word part)
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- Fenster · ist · Wespe — st and sp sound as written
The single s also changes — it depends on what comes after it.
When is s a “z”?
Before a vowel, s buzzes like English z. At the end, and as ss or ß, it is a sharp s.
- Sonne — sun (buzzing z)
- lesen — to read (buzzing z)
- Haus — house (sharp s)
- Fluss — river (sharp s)
- Straße — street (sharp s)
- weiß — white (sharp s)
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b, d and g also change at the end of a word — next.
Hard at the end
At the end of a word (or word part), b, d and g lose their buzz: b → p, d → t, g → k. The spelling doesn’t change.
- Geld — money (say “Gelt”)
- Hund — dog (say “Hunt”)
- und — and (say “unt”)
- Abend — evening (say “Abent”)
- gelb — yellow (say “gelp”)
- ab — from (say “ap”)
- Tag — day (say “Tak”)
- Zug — train (say “Tsuk”)
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- Read it as if it were written with t — Geld → “Gelt” · Hund → “Hunt” · Tag → “Tak”
- Short and crisp — no buzz — stop the sound cleanly; don’t add an “uh” after it (not “Geld-uh”)
- Hand on your throat — the d in dann buzzes; the d in Geld doesn’t
Same sound, different spelling
- Ra**d** ↔ Ra**t** — wheel ↔ advice — they sound exactly the same
Add an ending and the soft sound comes back
- Gel**d** ↔ Gel**d**er — t ↔ d
- Hun**d** ↔ Hun**d**e — t ↔ d
- Ta**g** ↔ Ta**g**e — k ↔ g
At the end, -ig is a soft ch, not k: zwanzig, König (step 2).
Two letters behave very differently from English: r and h.
The German r and h
At the start of a word or after a consonant, r is made in the back of the throat. h is spoken at the start, silent after a vowel.
- rot — red (throat r)
- Brot — bread (throat r)
- Frau — woman (throat r)
- grün — green (throat r)
- Haus — house (h spoken)
- gehen — to go (h silent)
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- hier · Uhr · Vater — see the vowels lesson
Last: letter teams that always sound the same.
Letter teams
These letter groups always sound the same — learn them once.
- Quelle — spring (water) (qu = kv)
- Apfel — apple (pf = p + f together)
- singen — to sing (ng = one sound, no g)
- danke — thanks (nk = ng + k)
- backen — to bake (ck = k)
- Theater — theatre (th = t)
- Physik — physics (ph = f)
- Stadt — city (dt = t)
- Information — information (-tion = tsion)
- Taxi — taxi (x = ks)
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You now know every German consonant. Last step: read like a German.
Put it together
Reading a new word: check the start, the letter teams, and the end.
Three checks
- The start — sp / st = shp / sht; s + vowel = z; w = v; v = f; z = ts; j = y.
- Letter teams — ch (deep or soft), sch, qu, pf, ng, ck, chs …
- The end — b, d, g → p, t, k; -ig = soft ch; s, ss, ß = sharp s.
One sentence, every rule
Der Zug fährt spät zum Schloss. — The train leaves late for the castle.
- Zug: z = ts; g at the end → k
- spät: sp at the start → shp
- Schloss: sch = sh; ss = sharp s
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