Consonants
W (ve) reads like Russian sound V: was? - What?
Z (tset) reads like ts: Mozart.
S (es) reads like With: Post - mail, but before (and between) vowels - like h: Saal - hall, lesen - read.
ß (esset) reads like With(this letter contains two s).
F (ef),V (ugh) read as f: Frankfurt, Vater - father. In borrowed words v reads like V: Vase - vase (a word from French) .
J (yot) reads like th: Ja - Yes.
L (el) - average between soft l and hard el, but closer to soft: Land - country.
To pronounce this sound while grazing, you need to teach yourself to vibrate your tongue in your throat. He's not used to this, he doesn't have enough muscles. They need to be built up (it's like learning to move your ears). To do this, you need to do a sound exercise, reminiscent of gargling, for at least a few minutes every day. Then after a month or two or three you will have the desired sound. However, it is better to speak without grazing than to grass clumsily and strainedly. A simple Russian “r” does not hurt a German’s ears, but a bad reed “r” hurts his ears. He will not understand why you are torturing yourself and him.
H at the beginning of a word or root it is read as an exhalation: Haus - house, dahinten - over there (da-hinten), and in the middle or at the end of the root (after a vowel) it is not readable at all: gehen - go, leave, Kuh - cow.
Letter combinations of consonants
Ko ch (X) - cook, Fu chs (ks) - fox,Sch iller ( w) . At the beginning of a word or root, before letters p And t, letter s reads like w: Sp ort( sp) - sport and st ill ( pcs) - quiet. Deu tsch ( hard h ),ba ck en (ba To n) - oven,qu aken ( kv akn) - croak.
Suffix -tion(always percussive) read tzion
In letter ß (esset) there are two s. However, sometimes it is written ß and sometimes ss- sometimes even in different forms the same word. According to the new spelling reform, after a long vowel or double vowel (diphthong) it is written ß , and after a short - ss:
wissen - weiß, dass, gr"o"ß.
Vowels
Vowels with change-reversal ( Umlaut - two dots above) are read narrower (with a narrower mouth) than their corresponding regular vowels: schon (already) - schön ("Schön"- wonderful), Zug (train) - Züge ("qiuge"- trains).
"A Umlaut" reads like uh: Säle - halls.
Y (upsilon) reads like ü : Lyric.
Vowel letter combinations
W ei mar (ah), L ie be( "And") - Love(the dash under the vowel is a sign of longitude), h eu te ( Ouch) - today, Häu ser( Ouch) - at home.
Accent
The stress in German words most often falls on the first syllable. (Flugzeug - airplane) except for some exceptions (warum - why), words with unstressed prefixes (verstehen - understand) and words that came into German from other languages (Computer).
Unstressed prefixes:
be-, ge-, er-
ver-, zer-,
ent-, emp-, miss-
Soften your accent
If a syllable is locked with a consonant, closed, then the vowel in it will be short, if open, it will be long:
d"a"(long) -das(short); D"a"me (Da-me), danke (dan-ke).
(Long A, by the way, differs from the short one not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively: it is deeper, guttural).
However, if a syllable that ends with a consonant has a “loophole” in the plural form of that word (where the syllable opens), then it will be long:
T"a"g (day), g"u"t (good), k"a"m (came) - Ta-ge (days), gu-te (good), ka-men (came). Of course, nouns, adjectives and verbs have such a loophole - but words such as, for example, do not. das (this). It follows that if a syllable is locked with only one consonant (and if it is not some unchangeable word), then it is most likely to be long.
Try saying:
G"u"ten T"a"g! - Good afternoon! Hello! (It is said not only during the day, it can be said at any time).
Danke sch"ö"n! - Thank you very much (literally: “thank you very much”).
Das ist g"u"t. - This is good.
In finite forms of verbs the same rule applies: the syllable is long if there is a loophole in another form - for example, in the first person present or past tense (we do, we did):
ihr l"e"st - you are reading(because wir l"e"-sen - we read),
du w"a"rst - you were(because wir w"a"-ren - we were)
A letter combination of consonants, even if it means one consonant sound, in syllabary accounting is counted as at least two - that is, the syllable before the letter combination is always short:
kochen (cook), backen (oven), waschen (wash).
In a few unchangeable monosyllable words r long syllable:
w"e"r (who), "e"r (he), d"e"r (masculine definitive article), n"u"r (only), m"i"r (me), d "i"r (to you) ...
And in forms derived from these words (if any):
w"e"n? (who), w"e"m? (to whom), d"e"n, d"e"m (masculine definitive article in the accusative and dative cases).
There are simply exceptions to the rule:
"E"rde (earth), "A"rzt (doctor), h"o"ch (high), n"a"ch (follow), B"u"ch (book), K"u"chen (pie ), St"ä"dte (city), M"ä"dchen (girl) ...
And also spr"a"ch (spoke),br"a"ch (broke) And w"u"sch (soap), Although sprechen (to speak),brechen (to break) And waschen (to wash) pronounced with a short vowel at the root.
Longitude can be expressed by doubling a vowel, for example:
Tee (tea).
By the way, "e"(long) is pronounced narrowly: the mouth turns into a slit, the corners of the lips stretch as much as possible, and e(short) pronounced like uh(i.e. with your mouth wide open). Compare: l "e"ben (live) - ernst (seriously), Ende (end).
Thus, long "A" And "e" differ from the corresponding short sounds not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively. Try to pronounce "A" deep and "e"- narrowly, then the longitude will work out by itself.
Long uh is also possible, but then it is expressed through ä :
Bär (bear).
Another case of indicating longitude is through h(which itself is not pronounced), compare:
in-ihn.
Sometimes it's h redundant, since even without it it would take a long time to pronounce, but it is preserved due to historical tradition:
gehen (to go), nahm (took), Ruhe (rest).
Try saying:
Das Leben geht weiter. - Life goes on (literally: “goes on” - this is what they usually say when it has already worn out properly and there is no other consolation left except this phrase).
If a word or the root of a word begins with a vowel, then it is pronounced with a strained, abrupt sound (“hard attack”):
"alles (everything), "und (and), "ich (I), "E"sel (donkey), ver"arbeiten (recycle).
Try saying:
"Ende gut - "alles gut. - All's well that ends well (Ende - end).
This sound gives the German language that abrupt “barking” shade, which gave rise to Charles V to assert (we know this saying in Lomonosov’s retelling) that the German language is convenient to talk with enemies (French - with friends, Italian - with women, Spanish - with God). But in fact, German speech, largely due to the fact that the syllables are sometimes long and sometimes short, seems to pulsate between rigidity, energy on the one hand, and softness, smoothness on the other.
Generally speaking, in order to master a language, you need to love it and feel its special attractiveness. Listen (in your own performance), for example, to how Goethe’s famous poem sounds:
Wanderers Nachtlied
(the wanderer's night song = song for the night: die Nacht - night + das Lied - song)
Über allen Gipfeln (over all peaks: der Gipfel)
Ist Ruh (rest: die Ruhe),
In allen Wipfeln (at all the top: der Wipfel)
Spürest du (do you feel)
Kaum einen Hauch (barely = almost no breath, breath);
Die Vögelein (birds: das Vög(e)lein; der Vogel - bird) schweigen im Walde (silent in the forest: der Wald).
Warte nur (just wait), balde (soon: bald)
Ruhest du auch (you too will rest, find peace).
Let's return to prose.
Double vowels (diphthongs) in German are pronounced sharply, abruptly, they need to be “barked”, try pronouncing:
Heute bleibe ich zu Hause! - Today I will stay at home!
They are pronounced not as two vowel sounds side by side, but as one, in the same time it would take you to pronounce one short sound. Therefore, when pronouncing, you must hurry. A mistake (in a strong Russian accent) would be to smoothly pronounce: ho-i-te blya-i-be their tsu ha-u-ze! The fact is that the Germans never have two vowels next to each other in a word! They can't do this! A diphthong is one vowel, just double. It is interesting that when a word comes into German, borrowed from another language, in which there are two vowel sounds next to each other, for example, Theater, the Germans find a way out of the situation - they insert a hard attack between the vowels and pronounce them separately: The"ater!
At the end -en no need to pronounce e:
machen (to do)- reads: " mahn".
Sound X, as you already know, is conveyed by the letter combination ch. If before ch stands for any “narrow” (pronounced with a narrow mouth) vowel (i, e, ö, ü), double vowel eu (oh) or consonant l, n, r, then this letter combination is pronounced softly - X".
ich (I) - ich, richtig (correct) - richtikh, sprechen (speak) - sprech "n, München - Munch"n, euch (you, to you) - oh"), solche (such) - solch "e.
note that -ig(at the end of a word) pronounced ugh(although you will often hear the pronunciation -ig, especially in southern Germany).
Try saying:
Ich spreche Deutsch. - I speak German.
Das ist richtig. - That's right.
Consonants p, t, k pronounced with aspiration:
Peter, Tee, Kaffee (Peter, tea, coffee). Try:
Peter, willst du Tee oder Kaffee? - Peter, do you want tea or coffee?
Voiced consonants at the end of a word are deafened (as in Russian: oak read "dup", but not like in English: dog (dog) - read "dog"):
Tag (day), mag (/I, he/ likes), Lied (song).
Try:
Ich mag diesels Lied. - I like this song.
Russians have an interesting habit: to say the word “so” at the beginning of a speech, sometimes to gain time and still think first and then speak, and sometimes to increase the categoricalness of the statement or even to give their speech a tinge of threat ( so, I said...!). And when you start speaking German, you will want to say this familiar word at the beginning of a phrase. But refrain, because in German it will mean “hello” - and the Germans will be surprised that you are the one saying hello all the time... It’s better to say in this case Ja - this is not only “yes”, but also a word that allows, on the one hand, think a little more, and, on the other hand, softening the categoricalness of your statement.
Voiced consonants are generally not as voiced as in Russian, but seem to be a little muffled. They need to be pronounced weakly, without pressure:
du (you), bist (/you/ are),Salzburg(the city in Austria where Mozart was born, literally: “salt fortress”).
Try:
B ist d u jetzt in S alz b urg? -Are you in Salzburg now?
And finally, the last thing: German consonants are never softened, unlike Russian ones, which are softened before i, e. German word Tisch (table) is pronounced unlike Russian word"silence". However, this is not “tysh”. “T” will be hard, as in the word “here,” and “and” will remain itself. Is it difficult? As a consolation, I will tell you that it is also difficult for Germans (and other Europeans) to pronounce Russian words with soft consonants that do not exist in their languages, for example: “aunt, uncle.” At first they will say: “thiotia, diadia.”
It is very important to learn not to soften consonants in several of the most common words, and the rest will then “join them”:
Sie (you), wir (we), die (feminine or plural definite article), nicht (not), mich (me), wie (how)
Try saying:
Lassen Sie mich in Ruhe! - Leave me alone!
Ich liebe dich! - I love you!
Reading rules german letters
If you regularly visit our website, then you have probably noticed that in the “Practical Lessons” and “Tasks and Materials” sections there are lists of words to study. There are also German word lists there, but can all of you know how to read them? Will all of you be able to learn them?
Therefore, for those who still want to learn the language and improve their vocabulary read them correctly and correctly.
Reading correctly is a very important aspect of learning foreign languages. A little earlier, in an article about learning foreign languages, it was mentioned that it is necessary to read words correctly in order to then pronounce them correctly and so that your interlocutor understands you. There is also a danger that you will not understand the interlocutor if you learn a word differently from how it sounds - as a result, understanding will not be achieved. And understanding each other is why we learn foreign languages.
The rules for reading German letters are divided into 2 parts. The first part will be easier for you, since in the first part we will look at the rules for reading those letters that are read the way they are written. Soon we will post a recording of the words as they are read on YOUTUBE on our channel. They will also be divided into 2 parts.
We present to your attention the rules for reading German letters; we remind you that the first part (table) is read as it is written. See in the second column how it is read, and in the third column the words to read.
Part 1. Rules for reading German letters
| Block letters | Reading (approximate) |
Examples |
| Aa | A | Mama, Anna, Kamm, Oma, am |
| Bb | b | Bank, Bonn, Boot, ob, bin |
| Cc | ||
| Dd | d | Dank, Dom, Diktat, dann |
| Ee | e (in open syllable) |
Beet, Tee, gehen, sehen |
| uh (in a closed syllable) |
Bett, Tempo, Kanne, haben | |
| Ff | f | Film, Flagge, fallen, Hof, offen |
| Gg | G | Gong, geben, Tage, gib, gut |
| Hh | X | Hanna, Hand, Hund, hat, dahin |
| after vowels is not read, but lengthens the previous vowel sound | Bahn, Kahn, ihm, Mohn, Kuh | |
| II | And | Nina, Timi, im, nimm, mit |
| Jj | read in pairs with other letters | |
| Kk | To | Komma, Kamm, kommt, kam |
| Ll | l | Lampe, Land, Bild, bald, leben |
| mm | m | Mama, man, commen, am |
| Nn | n | Not, Nana, Nina, kann, Ton |
| Oo | O | Oma, Otto, Tom |
| Pp | n | Papa, knapp, Pappe, Panik |
| together with "u" as "kv" | Quadrat, quaken, bequem | |
| Rr | R (guttural, burry) | Rabe, Radio, rot, Turm |
| Ss | With | essen, bis, das, es, Maus, bist |
| before vowels like "z" | Sonne, sind, Suppe, Hose, Nase | |
| Tt | T | Tom, Motto, Otto, tat, kommt |
| Uu | at | Udo, Mut, du, und, bunt, Mutti |
| Vv | f | Vogel, Vater, Volk, voll, von |
| V | Vase, Vitamine, Klavier | |
| Ww | V | Wort, Wasser, Wiese, wollen |
| Xx | ks | Max, Box, Text, Hexe, Felix |
| Yy | yu | Typ, Dynamo, Gymnasium |
| And | Tony, Teddy, Pony, Hobby | |
| Zz | ts | Zirkus, Zitrone, zehn, tanzen |
| Ää | uh | Wände, spät, zählen, Bär, wählen |
| Öö | e | böse, Söhne, Löwe, schön, hören |
| Üü | yu | für, Rübe, grün, fünf, Tür |
| ß | With | gießen, groß |
Here we will look at the rules for reading letter combinations. In the first part, you already noticed that there are some letters that are read depending on who the letter is paired with. Special attention Such letter combinations need to be given attention.
Part 2. Rules for reading German letter combinations
| Letter, letter combination |
Reading (approximate) |
Examples |
| au | aw | Baum, Auto, Bau, Maus, Haus |
| ie | long "and" | Biene, nie, die, dienen, Kopie |
| ei | ah | Ei, Bein, ein, nein, kein, mein, dein |
| eu | Ouch | neu, neun, heute |
| äu | Ouch | Mäuse, Bäume, Häuser, äußern, Äußere |
| ch | X (after a, o, u, au) |
Dach, Nacht, Koch, Kuchen, Buch, auch, Bauch |
| like the "x" in "chemistry" | ich, dich, leicht, Technik, euch, Licht | |
| sch | w | Schnee, schon, scheint, Tisch |
| sp | sp | Spaß, Spagetti, spielen, Sport |
| st | pcs | Stadt, Staat, Stimme, stehen, stimmt |
| tsch | h | Deutsch, tschüs |
| chs | ks | Fuchs, sechs, Dachs, wachsen |
| tz | ts | sitzen, setzen, Katze, Satz, Witz |
| ja | I | Japan, Jahr, Januar |
| jo | e | Jod, Joghurt, Jogi |
| ju | yu | Juni, Juli, jung, Junge |
| je | e | jene, jetzt, jeder |
If you need help learning German, contact our specialists. We will be happy to help you.
Good luck and have a lot of fun learning German!
Katerina is a certified specialist and teacher at the River Foreign Language Center
Rules for reading German letters (part 1)
Rules for reading German letters (part 2)
in GERMAN
German quite complex from a grammatical point of view, but learning to read German is very simple. There are few rules, there are practically no exceptions to them. Also, German does not have difficult sounds for Russians. You won't have to “break your tongue”, and you have a great chance of speaking German with excellent pronunciation.
Own additional letters of the alphabet:
In German latin alphabet and there are 4 additional letters:
Öö – position of the tongue as in uh, and lips - as with O(the sound turns out to be something between our “e” and “o”)
Ää - How uh at the beginning of a word and after vowels, e- after consonants
Üü – position of the tongue as in And, and lips - as with at(the sound turns out to be something between our “i” and “u”)
If your keyboard does not have these scary letters, then when writing you can replace them with combinations oe (ö), ae (ä), ue (ü). They will understand you. But still, Germans prefer to see their letters, and search engines and translators on the Internet do not accept this method very well. Therefore, I advise you to install the German keyboard layout on your computer.
ß – [ss]— in general, this letter has already been officially abolished in the German language, replacing it with a double ss. But you can still see β and ss in both formal and informal writing. Neither option is considered an error. You need to know both, but you can use either one to suit your own taste.
Vowels and their combinations
The basic vowels are read fairly standardly:
a - [a] ; u - [y] ; o - [o] ; e - [e]
y- also read as ü (something between “and” and “y”)
There is a small list of vowel combinations:
ei And ai – [ouch]– mein [mine] (my), nein [nine] (no)
ie – [And:]– liegen [ligen] (lie down), sieben [ziben] (seven)
eu And äu– [Ouch]– neu [noy] (new), neun [noyn] (nine)
Consonants and their combinations
Most of the consonants are read standardly:
b - [b]; d - [d]; f -[f]; g - [g]; k - [k]; l - [l]; m - [m]; n - [n]; p - [p]; r -[r]; t - [t]; x - [ks]
Only r it is pronounced burly, but in principle they will also understand the ordinary Russian “r”, and l pronounced a little softer, almost “l”.
There are a number of consonants that are read unusually for the Latin alphabet:
c — [To]- Code [code] (code)
h- read as [x] only at the beginning of a word, in other cases it is not read at all - Hohe [hohe] (height)
s- read differently depending on its position in the word:
- reads like [h], if there is a vowel after it – sein [zayn] (to be), Sonne [zone] (sun), zusammen [tsuzamen] (together)
- reads like [w], if it is followed by a consonant p or t ( sp – [shp]– spielen [spilen] (play), sprechen [sprhen (speak); st – [pcs]– stehen [stehen] (stand), Stuhl (shtul))
- in all other cases it reads as [With]- es [es] (this), das [das] (this), ist [ist] (is)
v – [f]– Vogel [vogel] - bird, vier [fir] (four), Vater [fater] (father)
z – [ts]– zusammen [tsuzamen] (together), zauber [tsauber] (pure)
There are also a number of consonant combinations:
ch – [X]– ich [them] (I), machen [machen] (to do), nicht [niht] (not)
ck – [kk]– Ecke [ekke] (angle)
chs – [ks]– sechs [zeks] (six), wachsen [vaxen] (grow)
sch – [w]– schon [schon] (already), schreiben [schreiben] (write)
tsch – [h]– Deutschland [deutschland] (Germany)
tz – [ts]– Katze [katse] (cat), sitzen (sit)
th And td — [T]- Stadt [state] (city), Bibliothek [library] (library)
All double vowels are read as one: ff [f], nn [n], pp [p], ss [s]
Combinations of vowels and consonants
qu – [kv]– Quatsch [kvach] (nonsense), Quadrat [square] (square)
tion — [tsion]— Information [information] (information)
eh – [Hey]– nehmen [neymen] (take), stehen [stehen] (stand)
je – [e]– jetzt [etzt] (now), jemand [emand] (someone)
ju – [yu]– jubeln [yubeln] (rejoice, have fun)
ja – [I]– ja [ya] (yes), Jacke [yakke] (jacket)
ig - reads like [their] only at the end of the word - richtig [richtih] (correct), anywhere else in the word it is read as usual [ig]- Igel [igel] (hedgehog)
Accents
Good news awaits you here too. Firstly, the stress in words most often falls on the first root syllable. Secondly, the tonality of sounds, as in Russian, does not need to be changed.
But things get a little more complicated with compound words:
- percussion attachments ( ab-, an-, auf-, aus-, bei-, ein-, mit-, un-, ur-, vor-, zu-)
- unstressed prefixes ( be-, ge-, ent-, emp-, er-, ver-, zer-)
- prefixes that can be stressed or unstressed ( durch-, über-, um-, unter-, wieder-)
- stressed suffixes ( -ant, -at, -ee, -ent, -et, -eur, -ion, -ist, -it, -ot, -tät, -ur)
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that unstressed vowels, unlike in Russian, are pronounced the same way as they are written.
Tip: if you are in doubt about how to read a word, enter it into any free online translator and click "listen". Google has such a translator. It should be noted that he translates into German disgustingly, but pronounces words well :)
Typical mistakes of Russian speakers in pronunciation of German words:
Usually the easiest way to identify a Russian person speaking German is:
- by the booming sound " r» ( r), which the Germans pronounce burly.
- too much solid sound « X» ( h at the beginning of a word ch And ig at the end of the word), which should be quite soft, as if aspirated, as if you were breathing on glass.
- changing the unstressed “o” to “a” - we do this out of habit from native language. In Russian we don’t say [milk], we say [malako]. The Germans don't do that.
But if you speak exactly like that, then it’s not scary at all, they will understand you. Moreover, the German language has so many dialects that, with the correct use of vocabulary and grammar, even the most typical Russian pronunciation in Germany they may well be mistaken for some dialect. Tested from my own experience.
W (ve) reads like Russian sound V: was? - What?
Z (tset) reads like ts: Mozart.
S (es) reads like With: Post - mail, but before (and between) vowels - like h: Saal - hall, lesen - read.
ß (esset) reads like With(this letter contains two s).
F (ef), V(ugh) read as f: Frankfurt, Vater - father. In borrowed words v reads like V: Vase - vase (word from French).
J (yot) reads like th: Ja - Yes.
L (el) - average between soft l and hard el, but closer to soft: Land - country.
To pronounce this sound while grazing, you need to teach yourself to vibrate your tongue in your throat. He's not used to this, he doesn't have enough muscles. They need to be built up (it's like learning to move your ears). To do this, you need to do a sound exercise, reminiscent of gargling, for at least a few minutes every day. Then after a month or two or three you will have the desired sound. However, it is better to speak without grazing than to grass clumsily and strainedly. A simple Russian “r” does not hurt a German’s ears, but a bad reed “r” hurts his ears. He will not understand why you are torturing yourself and him.
H at the beginning of a word or root it is read as an exhalation: Haus - house, dahinten - over there (da-hinten), and in the middle or at the end of the root (after a vowel) it is not readable at all: gehen - go, leave, Kuh - cow.
Letter combinations of consonants
Ko ch (X) - cook, Fu chs (ks) - fox, Sch iller ( w), Sp ort( sp) and st ill ( pcs) - quiet - at the beginning of a word or root, Deu tsch ( hard h ),ba ck en (ba To n) - oven, qu aken ( kv akn) - croak.
Suffix -tion(always percussive) read tzion
In letter ß (esset) there are two s. However, sometimes it is written ß and sometimes ss- sometimes even in different forms of the same word. According to the new spelling reform, after a long vowel or double vowel (diphthong) it is written ß , and after a short - ss:
wissen - weiß, dass, gr»o»ß.
- Vowels
Vowels with change-reversal ( Umlaut - two dots above) are read narrower (with a narrower mouth) than their corresponding regular vowels: schon (already) - schön (‘Schön‘ - wonderful), Zug (train) - Züge (‘qiuge‘ - trains).
"A Umlaut" reads like uh: Säle - halls.
Y (upsilon) reads like ü : Lyric.
Vowel letter combinations
W ei mar ( ah), L ie be( "And") - Love(the dash under the vowel is a sign of longitude), h eu te ( Ouch) - today, H äu ser( Ouch) - at home.
- Accent
The stress in German words most often falls on the first syllable. (Flugzeug - airplane) except for some exceptions (warum - why), words with unstressed prefixes (verstehen - understand) and words that came into German from other languages (Computer).
Unstressed prefixes:
be-, ge-, er-
ver-, zer-,
ent-, emp-, miss-
- Soften mine accent
If a syllable is locked with a consonant, closed, then the vowel in it will be short, if open, it will be long:
d"a"(long) -das(short); D"a"me (Da-me), danke (dan-ke).
(Long A, by the way, differs from the short one not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively: it is deeper, guttural).
However, if a syllable that ends with a consonant has a “loophole” in the plural form of that word (where the syllable opens), then it will be long:
T»a»g (day), g»u»t (good), k»a»m (came) - Ta-ge (days), gu-te (good), ka-men (came). Of course, nouns, adjectives and verbs have such a loophole - but words such as, for example, do not. das (this). It follows that if a syllable is locked with only one consonant (and if it is not some unchangeable word), then it is most likely to be long.
Try saying:
G»u»ten T»a»g! - Good afternoon! Hello! (It is said not only during the day, it can be said at any time).
Danke sch»ö»n! - Thank you very much (literally: “thank you very much”).
Das ist g»u»t. - This is good
In finite forms of verbs the same rule applies: the syllable is long if there is a loophole in another form - for example, in the first person present or past tense (we do, we did):
ihr l»e»st - you are reading(because wir l»e»-sen - we read),
du w»a»rst - you were(because wir w"a"-ren - we were)
A letter combination of consonants, even if it means one consonant sound, in syllabary accounting is counted as at least two - that is, the syllable before the letter combination is always short:
kochen (cook), backen (oven), waschen (wash).
In a few unchangeable monosyllable words r long syllable:
w"e"r (who), "e"r (he), d"e"r (masculine definitive article), n"u"r (only), m"i"r (me), d "i"r (to you) ...
And in forms derived from these words (if any):
w"e"n? (whom), w»e»m?(to whom), d»e»n, d»e»m (masculine definitive article in the accusative and dative cases).
There are simply exceptions to the rule:
“E”rde (earth), “A”rzt (doctor), h”o”ch (high), n”a”ch (following), B”u”ch (book), K”u”chen (pie ), St»ä»dte (city), M»ä»dchen (girl) ...
And also spr»a»ch (spoke), br»a»ch (broke) And w»u»sch (soap), Although sprechen (to speak), brechen (to break) And waschen (to wash) pronounced with a short vowel at the root.
Longitude can be expressed by doubling a vowel, for example:
Tee (tea).
By the way, "e"(long) is pronounced narrowly: the mouth turns into a slit, the corners of the lips stretch as much as possible, and e(short) pronounced like uh(i.e. with your mouth wide open). Compare: l»e»ben (live) - ernst (seriously), Ende (end).
Thus, long "A" And "e" differ from the corresponding short sounds not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively. Try to pronounce "A" deep and "e"- narrowly, then the longitude will work out by itself.
Long uh is also possible, but then it is expressed through ä :
Bär (bear).
Another case of indicating longitude is through h(which itself is not pronounced), compare:
in-ihn.
Sometimes it's h redundant, since even without it it would take a long time to pronounce, but it is preserved due to historical tradition:
gehen (to go), nahm (took), Ruhe (rest).
Try saying:
Das Leben geht weiter. - Life goes on (literally: “goes on” - this is what they usually say when it has already worn out properly and there is no other consolation left except this phrase).
If a word or the root of a word begins with a vowel, then it is pronounced with a strained, abrupt sound (“hard attack”):
‘alles (everything), ‘und (and), ‘ich (I), “‘E”sel (donkey), ver’arbeiten (recycle).
Try saying:
‘Ende gut - ‘alles gut. - All's well that ends well (Ende - end).
This sound gives the German language that abrupt “barking” shade, which gave rise to Charles V to assert (we know this saying in Lomonosov’s retelling) that the German language is convenient to talk with enemies (French - with friends, Italian - with women, Spanish - with God). But in fact, German speech, largely due to the fact that the syllables are sometimes long and sometimes short, seems to pulsate between rigidity, energy on the one hand, and softness, smoothness on the other.
Generally speaking, in order to master a language, you need to love it and feel its special attractiveness. Listen (in your own performance), for example, to how Goethe’s famous poem sounds:
Wanderers Nachtlied
(the wanderer's night song = song for the night: die Nacht - night + das Lied - song)
Über allen Gipfeln (over all peaks: der Gipfel)
Ist Ruh (rest: die Ruhe),
In allen Wipfeln (at all the top: der Wipfel)
Spürest du (do you feel)
Kaum einen Hauch (barely = almost no breath, breath);
Die Vögelein (birds: das Vög(e)lein; der Vogel -bird) schweigen im Walde (silent in the forest: der Wald).
Warte nur (just wait), balde (soon: bald)
Ruhest du auch (you too will rest, find peace).
Let's return to prose.
Double vowels (diphthongs) in German are pronounced sharply, abruptly, they need to be “barked”, try pronouncing:
Heute bleibe ich zu Hause! -TodayII'll stayHouses!
They are pronounced not as two vowel sounds side by side, but as one, in the same time it would take you to pronounce one short sound. Therefore, when pronouncing, you must hurry. A mistake (in a strong Russian accent) would be to smoothly pronounce: ho-i-te blya-i-be their tsu ha-u-ze! The fact is that the Germans never have two vowels next to each other in a word! They can't do this! A diphthong is one vowel, just double. It is interesting that when a word comes into German, borrowed from another language, in which there are two vowel sounds next to each other, for example, Theater, the Germans find a way out of the situation - they insert a hard attack between the vowels and pronounce them separately: The'ater!
At the end -en no need to pronounce e:
machen (to do)- reads: ‘ mahn‘.
Sound X, as you already know, is conveyed by the letter combination
ch. If before ch stands for any “narrow” (pronounced with a narrow mouth) vowel (i, e, ö, ü), double vowel eu (oh) or consonant l, n, r, then this letter combination is pronounced softly - X'.
ich (I) - ich, richtig (correct) - richtikh, sprechen (speak) - sprech'n, München - Munch'n, euch (you, to you) - oh'), solche (such) - solch'e.
note that -ig(at the end of a word) pronounced ugh(although you will often hear the pronunciation -ig, especially in southern Germany).
Try saying:
Ich spreche Deutsch. - I speak German.
Das ist richtig. -Thisright.
Consonants p, t, k pronounced with aspiration:
Peter, Tee, Kaffee (Peter, tea, coffee). Try:
Peter, willst du Tee oder Kaffee? - Peter, do you want tea or coffee?
Voiced consonants at the end of a word are deafened (as in Russian: oak read 'dup', but not like in English: dog (dog) - read ‘dog’):
Tag (day), mag (/I, he/ likes), Lied (song).
Try:
Ich mag diesels Lied. - I like this song.
Russians have an interesting habit: to say the word “so” at the beginning of a speech, sometimes to gain time and still think first and then speak, and sometimes to increase the categoricalness of the statement or even to give their speech a tinge of threat ( so, I said...!). And when you start speaking German, you will want to say this familiar word at the beginning of a phrase. But refrain, because in German it will mean “hello” - and the Germans will be surprised that you are the one saying hello all the time... It’s better to say in this case Ja - this is not only “yes”, but also a word that allows, on the one hand, think a little more, and, on the other hand, softening the categoricalness of your statement.
Voiced consonants are generally not as voiced as in Russian, but seem to be a little muffled. They need to be pronounced weakly, without pressure:
du (you), bist (/you/ are), Salzburg (the city in Austria where Mozart was born, literally: “salt fortress”).
Try:
Bist d u jetzt in S alzb urg? -Are you in Salzburg now?
And finally, the last thing: German consonants are never softened, unlike Russian ones, which are softened before i, e. The German word Tisch (table) is pronounced differently from the Russian word “quiet”. However, this is not “tysh”. “T” will be hard, as in the word “here,” and “and” will remain itself. Is it difficult? As a consolation, I will tell you that it is also difficult for Germans (and other Europeans) to pronounce Russian words with soft consonants that do not exist in their languages, for example: “aunt, uncle.” At first they will say: “thiotia, diadia.”
It is very important to learn not to soften the consonants in a few of the most common words, and then the rest will “add up” to them:
Sie (you), wir (we), die (feminine or plural definite article), nicht (not), mich (me), wie (how)
Try saying:
Lassen Sie mich in Ruhe! - Leave me alone!
Ich liebe dich! -IyouI love!
Und ich dich nicht. -AIyouNo!
- Read in German (PDF - Datei) Deutsch lesen
- Word - Datei Rules for reading and pronunciation in German
- Rules for reading and letter combinations http://www.english-german.ru/?p=677
- Examples of reading letter combinations with MP 3
Many people believe that studying foreign language you need to start by learning the alphabet. In fact, this is a completely useless waste of time. And time is the most important and, alas, non-renewable resource.
I was born and lived all my life in Ukraine, went to a Ukrainian kindergarten and school, but I don’t know the Ukrainian alphabet, which does not prevent me from knowing the language itself.
I know German and English without knowing the alphabet. I know Czech without even trying to learn the alphabet.
For free communication, it is enough to know how to pronounce certain combinations of sounds and letters.
Listen to the audio lesson with additional explanations
The main letter combinations in German include:
ei – [ouch]– mein (mine), dein (yours), nein (no), kein (none)
ie – [And:]– liegen (lie down), biegen (turn)
s reads like h, if there is a vowel after it – sieben (seven)
ch – [X]– ich (I), machen (to do), nicht (not)
sch – [w]– schon (already), schreiben (to write)
tsch – [h]– Deutschland (Germany), deutsch (German)
eu – [Ouch]– neu (new), neun (nine)
tz – [ts]– sitzen (to sit)
eh – [e:]– nehmen (take), lehren (teach)
je – [e]– jetzt (now)
ju – [yu]– jubeln (rejoice, have fun), jucken (itch, itch)
ja – [I]– ja (yes), Jacke (jacket, jacket)
qu – [kv]– Quatsch (nonsense)
sp – [shp]– spielen (play), sprechen (speak)
st – [pcs]– stehen (stand), Stunde (hour)
ck – [kk]– Ecke (corner)
chs – [ks]– wachsen (to grow)
v – [f]– vorstellen, vorbeikommen
z – [ts]– zusammen, Zukunft
There are 4 letters in the German language, the pronunciation and spelling of which must be remembered:
Öö – position of the tongue as in uh, and lips - as with O
Ää - How uh at the beginning of a word and after vowels, e- after consonants
Üü – position of the tongue as in And, and lips - as with at
ß – [ss]
Die Beste
Guten Tag, wir sind "die Beste", wir sind Künstler aus Deutschland. Dürfen wir uns vorstellen?
Mein Name ist Christoph Besemer. Ich komme aus Hamburg, und ich wohne da auch. Mein Hobby ist vor allem Musik. Ich spiele Klavier; aber mein Beruf ist Lehrer.
Ich bin Gerd Friedrich. Im normalen Leben bin ich Arzt. Ich arbeite in einer Klinik. Ich bin verheiratet und habe einen Sohn. Meine Frau arbeitet auch. Wir wohnen in einem kleinen Dorf nicht weit von Hamburg. Es heißt Bleibach. Meine Hobbys sind Akrobatik und Clowntheater.
Hallo, mein Name ist Petra Obergfell. Ich komme aus einer sehr musikalischen Familie. Ich spiele und unterrichte Gitarre. Ich habe viele Schüler. Sie kommen zu mir in Bleibach, wo Gerd auch wohnt. Wir sind fast Nachbarn. Ich habe eine Tochter. Sie ist acht und heißt Jana. Ihr Vater wohnt nicht mehr bei uns. Er lebt jetzt in Berlin, das ist aber weit von Bleibach.
Und ich bin der Guido. Ich bin Deutscher. Meine Eltern wohnen schon immer in Deutschland, und wir heißen Chudoba. Auch mein Bruder und meine Schwester heißen so. Ich bin drei Jahre älter als Gerd. Meine Frau heißt Anita, und wir haben drei Kinder. Martin (8) und Julia und Diana (5). Die Mädchen sind Zwillinge. Sie gehen zusammen in den Kindergarten. Martin ist schon an der Grundschule. Von Beruf bin ich jetzt Computerprogrammerer. Ich bin auch sehr sportlich. Ich wohne im Norden. Die Stadt heißt Rostok. Es liegt nicht weit von Kiel. Ich arbeite in Kiel, aber das ist nicht so weit von hier.
