Consonants that surprise you
w, v, z, j, s, ß, sch, sp, st, the two ch sounds, and hard endings
Part of the free A0 German course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.
Most German consonants sound much as they do in English. A few letters are false friends: they look familiar but sound different. Learn these and you can read German aloud with confidence. (For the vowels, see The alphabet and the vowels.)
The letters that change
| Spelling | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| w | English v | Wasser (water), Wein (wine) |
| v | usually English f | Vater (father), viel (a lot) |
| z | ts as in cats | Zug (train), zehn (ten) |
| j | y as in yes | ja (yes), Jahr (year) |
| s before a vowel | z as in zoo | Sonne (sun), sieben (seven) |
| s at the end | s as in bus | Haus (house), das (the) |
| ß, ss | s as in bus | Straße (street), Wasser (water) |
| sch | sh | Schule (school) |
| sp, st at the start | shp, sht | Sport, Stadt (town) |
| tsch | ch as in church | Deutsch (German) |
| qu | kv | Quatsch (nonsense) |
| pf | p and f together | Apfel (apple) |
| th | t | Theater |
In words borrowed from other languages, v often sounds like English v: Vase, Klavier (piano).
ß or ss?
ß and ss sound the same. Write ß after a long vowel or after ei, au, eu (Straße, heißen, groß, Fuß), and ss after a short vowel (Wasser, muss, Fluss). In Switzerland people always write ss, and that is correct there too.
Two ch sounds
- After a, o, u, au, ch is a rough sound at the back of the throat, like Scottish loch: acht (eight), Buch (book), auch (also).
- After all other letters (i, e, ä, ö, ü, ei, eu, l, n, r), it is a soft hiss, like a whispered h in huge: ich, nicht, Milch (milk), sprechen (to speak).
- In Germany, -ig at the end of a word sounds like -ich: zwanzig (twenty), billig (cheap).
Hard endings
At the end of a word or syllable, b, d, g lose their voice and sound like p, t, k: gelb (yellow) ends in "p", Hund (dog) ends in "t", Tag (day) ends in "k". In the plural the soft sound comes back: Hunde, Tage.
The German r
At the start of a syllable, the standard r is made at the back of the throat, a little like gargling softly: rot (red). At the end of a word, -er is just a short "uh": Vater, aber.
- Wir wohnen in Wien.We live in Vienna.
- Mein Vater trinkt viel Wasser.My father drinks a lot of water.
- Der Zug kommt um zehn.The train comes at ten.
- Ja, das ist mein Buch.Yes, that's my book.
- Die Straße ist lang.The street is long.
- Ich spiele gern Fußball.I like playing football.
- Ich lerne Deutsch in der Schule.I learn German at school.
- Der Hund ist acht Jahre alt.The dog is eight years old.
- Ich trinke gern Milch.I like drinking milk.
Think of the pair Wein and Vase: German w sounds like English v, and German v usually sounds like English f.
Common mistakes
- Saying Wasser with an English w. German w is always "v": VAS-suh.
- Saying zehn with an English z. German z is "ts": TSAYN.
- Saying ja with an English j. German j is "y": YAH.
- Saying Stadt like English state. At the start of a word, st is "sht": SHTAT.
- Using the throat sound in ich and nicht. After i and e, ch is the soft hiss.
- Writing
Strassein Germany or Austria. After a long vowel, Germany and Austria write ß: Straße.
Practice
- The German 'w' in 'Wasser' (water) sounds like English…Options: v · w · f
Show the answer
v — German w is always the English v sound.
- The 'v' in 'Vater' (father) sounds like English…Options: f · v · w
Show the answer
f — In native German words v sounds like f: Vater, viel, vier.
- The 'z' in 'Zug' (train) sounds like…Options: ts, as in 'cats' · z, as in 'zoo' · s, as in 'sun'
Show the answer
ts, as in 'cats' — German z is always 'ts'.
- The 'j' in 'Jahr' (year) sounds like English…Options: y in 'yes' · j in 'jam' · h in 'hat'
Show the answer
y in 'yes' — German j is the y sound: ja, Jahr, Januar.