German All-in-One For Dummies
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In German, vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) can generally be pronounced in two ways — as short or long vowel sounds. The short vowel sounds are “clipped,” meaning they’re pronounced shorter than their English equivalents. Long vowel sounds are “steady-state” or “pure,” meaning the sound quality doesn’t change even though it’s a long sound. Here are the basic rules:

  • A vowel is long when it’s followed by the letter h, as in Stahl (shtahl) (steel) or ihn (een) (him).

  • A vowel is generally long when it’s followed by a single consonant, as in Tag (tahk) (day).

  • A vowel is long when it’s doubled, as in Teer (teyr) (tar) or Aal (ahl) (eel).

  • The vowels a, e, and i sound long before a single consonant, as in beten (bey-ten) (to pray).

  • In general, a vowel is short when followed by two or more consonants, as in Tanne (tân-e) (fir tree).

This table shows you how to pronounce German vowels by providing some examples and the letter combinations that serve as the English equivalent of the German letter’s pronunciation (called the phonetic script). Here, two short vowel sounds have a little “hat” over the letter, so they look like this: â and ê.

Pronouncing German Vowels
German Letter Phonetic Symbol As in English German Example
a (long) ah father Bahnhof (bahn-hohf) (station)
a (short) â adore (clipped “a”) Banner (bân-er) (banner)
e (long) ey vein Leben (ley-ben) (life)
e (short/stressed) ê bet (clipped “e”) Bett (bêt) (bed)
e (short/unstressed) e pocket Lachen (lâH-en) (laughter)
i (long) ee see isoliert (eez-o-leert) (isolated)
i (short) i winter Mitte (mit-e) (middle)
o (long) oh mope Lob (lohp) (praise)
o (short) o gonna Sonne (zon-e) (sun)
u (long) ooh moon Grube (grooh-be) (pit)
u (short) oo push (clipped “u”) muss (moos) (have to/must)

About This Article

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About the book authors:

Wendy Foster teaches Business English, German, French, and intercultural communication skills. She also does editing for online German education programs. Wendy received her degree in German studies at the Sprachen-und-Dolmetscher-Institut in Munich and later her MA in French at Middlebury College in Paris.

Paulina Christensen has been working as a writer, editor, and translator for more than 10 years. She has developed, written, and edited numerous German-language textbooks and teachers' handbooks for Berlitz International. Dr. Christensen recieved her MA and PhD from Dusseldorf University, Germany.

Anne Fox has been working as a translator, editor, and writer for more than 12 years. She studied at Interpreter's School, Zurich, Switzerland, and holds a degree in translation. Most recently she has been developing, writing, and editing student textbooks and teacher handbooks for Berlitz.

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