ie
Pronounced as EE in English
Said as “ee”
- Brief
- viel
Buchstabenkombinationen
Letter combinations
Groups of letters have their own sounds. These are the ones you will meet most often.
ei / ai
Pronounced like the English letter I
Said as “ai”
Memory trick: say the English name of the second letter. ei → “I” (ai). ie → “E” (ee). Compare drei and Brief.
- drei
- Mai
- Bein
- Kaiser
eu
Pronounced “oye”
Said as “oye”
- neu
- heute
- Europa
st
Depends on where it sits in the word
At the start: “sht”
- Straße
- Start
In the middle or at the end: as in English
- beste
- erste
- Post
sp
Depends on where it sits in the word
At the start: mostly “shp”
- Sport
- Sprache
In the middle or at the end: as in English (Not very common)
- Wespe
au
Like “ow” in “how” or “ou” in “house”
Said as “ow / ou”
- Haus
- Maus
äu
Pronounced “oye”, like eu
Said as “oye”
- Häuser
- Träume
ig
Depends on what follows it
Before a vowel: as in English
- ruhige
- heilige
Exception: as in English
- Signal
Other cases: “ish”
- König
- lustig
er / err
Two different sounds
Said as “uh / err”
er: leave the r out — say “uh”
- Lehrer
- Bruder
err: pronounced like “err” in “Error”
- Herr
- Herren
ch
Depends on the letter before it
Never pronounced like the “ch” in English words such as “church”.
After a, o, u or au: “kh”
- machen
- rauchen
Other cases: “sh”
- ich
- Milch
- echt
kn
Say the K and the N separately
The K is never silent, unlike “know” in English.
- Knopf
- Knie
pf
Pronounced like F in English
- Pferd
- Pflege
ph
Pronounced the same as in English
- Phase
- Graph
Qu
Pronounced the same as in English
- Quiz
- Quark
sch
Pronounced as “sh” — where English uses -sh
Said as “sh”
- Englisch
- Fisch
tsch
Similar to “ch” in English (cheese, chair)
- Deutsch
- klatschen
th
Not like “the” or “there”
Say it like the “th” in “Thursday” and “Math”.
- Theater
- Theorie