German grammar › A1
Word stress — Wortbetonung
Level A1 · first syllable · prefixes · borrowed words · compounds · melody
Which part of a word is loud?
In longer words one syllable is stronger. German usually stresses the first syllable; prefixes and borrowed words have their own rules.
Pattern
Arbeit · anrufen · verstehen · Universität
Remember: Borrowed ending (-tät, -tion, -ent) → stress the end.
What is word stress?
In a longer word, one part (syllable) is louder and longer. Stress the wrong part and people struggle to understand you.
- Arbeit — work
- Mutter — mother
- Sprache — language
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The good news: most German words follow one simple rule.
Rule 1: the first syllable
German words stress their first syllable. Endings are never stressed.
- Fenster — window
- Lehrer — teacher
- Woche — week
- arbeiten — to work
- Wohnung — flat (-ung not stressed)
- freundlich — friendly (-lich not stressed)
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Prefixes in front of a verb break this rule — in two different ways.
Prefixes: stressed or not?
Separable prefixes (an-, auf-, ein-, mit- …) are stressed. be-, ge-, ver-, er-, ent-, zer- are never stressed.
Separable → stress the prefix
- anrufen — to call
- aufstehen — to get up
- einkaufen — to shop
- mitkommen — to come along
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be-, ge-, ver-, er- → stress what comes after
- bezahlen — to pay
- verstehen — to understand
- Geschenk — present
- erklären — to explain
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- gemacht · gespielt · angerufen — ge- is never stressed
Many words came into German from other languages — they keep their own stress.
Borrowed words: stress at the end
Many borrowed words stress the end — especially with -tät, -tion, -ent, -ist, -ei and -ieren.
- Universität — university
- Information — information
- Student — student
- Tourist — tourist
- Bäckerei — bakery
- studieren — to study
- Musik — music
- Büro — office
- Hotel — hotel
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Long German words are often two words joined together — stress finds the first one.
Compound words
When two words join into one, the first part is stressed.
- Haustür — front door
- Bahnhof — station
- Kühlschrank — fridge
- Schreibtisch — desk
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Stress lives in words. Sentences have a melody too.
Sentence melody
Yes / no questions go up at the end. Statements and W-questions go down.
- Kommst du? — Are you coming? (yes / no → up ↗)
- Du kommst. — You are coming. (statement → down ↘)
- Wo wohnst du? — Where do you live? (W-question → down ↘)
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That’s all the stress rules. Last step: the order to check them.
Put it together
Check in this order — the first answer wins.
Four checks
- Borrowed ending? — -tät, -tion, -ent, -ist, -ei, -ieren → stress the end.
- Two words joined? — Stress the first part.
- A prefix? — an-, auf-, ein- … stressed; be-, ge-, ver-, er- … not.
- Otherwise — Stress the first syllable.
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