LESSON NOTES

Ultimate German Pronunciation

Guide S1 #1
Introduction to Perfect German
Pronunciation

CONTENTS
2 Vocabulary
2 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar

# 1
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VOCABULARY

Ge r man English C lass Ge nde r

nicht not adverb

Apfel apple noun masculine

Rost grill noun masculine

Rübe turnip noun feminine

Schmarrn rubbish noun masculine

Zahl number noun; feminine, die

Kuchen cake, pie noun masculine

beamtet to beam verb

füllt to fill verb

über about preposition

Fuß foot noun masculine

Seele soul noun; feminine, die

Öl oil noun neutral

conjunction; used as
“isn’t it?”-type
oder or question at the end
of a sentence.

Hölle hell noun; feminine, die

Wasser water noun neutral

rail, course, lane,

Bahn [bowling] alley noun; feminine, die

SAMPLE SENTENCES

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D a s h a be i ch n i ch t g e sa g t! D u bi st n i ch t m e i n Va te r!

I didn't say that! You aren't my father!

Ei n e m e i n e r L i e bl i n g sfrü ch te i st d e r Vi e l e D e u tsch e ve rw e n d e n g e rn e
Apfe l . El sta r- Äpfe l fü r i h re n Apfe l ku ch e n .

One of my favorite fruits is the apple. Many Germans like to use Elstar apples
for their apple cake.

Me i n e Mu tte r m a ch t u n g l a u bl i ch Mö ch te st d u Ora n g e n sa ft o d e r
l e cke re Apfe l ku ch e n . l i e be r Apfe l sa ft?

My mother makes incredibly delicious Do you want orange juice or rather apple
apple pies. juice?

So l l e n w i r e i n e n Ku ch e n z u se i n e m Me i n e Mu tte r m a ch t u n g l a u bl i ch
G e bu rtsta g vo rbe re i te n ? l e cke re Apfe l ku ch e n .

Shall we prepare a cake for his birthday? My mother makes incredibly delicious
apple pies.

Ich m a g ke i n e G e sch i ch te n ü be r L a ss u n s n o ch e i n m a l ü be r d i e
Bä re n . Sa ch e re d e n .

I dislike stories about bears. Let's talk about this thing once more.

Vi e l e Ph i l o so ph e n fra g te n si ch , o b Ich m u ss d o ch n i ch t a l l e s a u f
d i e Se e l e u n ste rbl i ch se i . e i n m a l be z a h l e n , o d e r?

Many philosophers wondered if the soul But I don't have to pay everything at once,
was immortal. do I?

R e i ch t e i n e J a cke o d e r bra u ch e i ch D e r Ei n ka u fsbu m m e l a m

e i n e n Ma n te l ? ve rka u fso ffe n e n So n n ta g e n tpu ppte
si ch a l s d i e re i n ste H ö l l e .
Is a jacket enough or will I need a coat?
Shopping on an open-shop Sunday turned
out to be pure hell.

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U n d d e r Ka h n so l l u n s w i rkl i ch h e i l Ei n G l a s Wa sse r o h n e Ko h l e n sä u re
ü be r d a s Wa sse r bri n g e n ? bi tte !

And this barge is really supposed to bring A glass of water without carbonation
us savely over the water? please!

D i e Ba h n ko m m t n i e pü n ktl i ch !

The train never arrives on time!

GRAMMAR

Th e Fo cu s o f th i s L e sso n i s Ma ste ri n g th e Bu i l d i n g Bl o cks o f G e rm a n

Pro n u n ci a ti o n

German is a Germanic language, which means it has the same origin as English, Dutch,
Danish, Swedish and the like. This also means that it is comparatively easy to learn if you
know one of these languages. You will recognize a lot of words and expressions, and even
some of the structures are similar. However, English has evolved independently, too, and
grown simpler in some respects, so that there are parts of German grammar that will be
foreign to you. It's often been said that German pronunciation is one of the easier aspects of
the language. And guess what - it's true! But it still takes some practice, and we're here to
help you with it. We'll introduce you to the ins and outs of German pronunciation and show
you how it matches with and differs from English pronunciation.

So u n d s a n d Syl l a bl e s

Let's first take a look at how German sounds work. The German writing system uses eight
vowels (the basic -a, -e, -i, -o, and -u and the umlauts -ä, -ö, and -ü) and twenty-two
consonants (-b, -c, -d, -f, -g, -h, -j, -k, -l, -m, -n, -p, -q, -r, -s, -t, -v, -w, -x, -y, -z, and Eszett
ß). This makes a total of thirty letters, but German uses more sounds than letters. Since
German is a pluricentric language, there are a number of pronunciation variations of standard
German, though they agree in most respects.

Although German is made up of letters from the Latin alphabet, German, like many other
languages including English, uses the concept of syllables. The German language arranges
letters in blocks of syllables to form words. A syllable is usually made up of one or some
consonants and one vowel, but some of them contain only one vowel. For example, Lehrer
(syllabic: Leh-rer), meaning "teacher," consists of two syllables, with each one being made up

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of three letters (two consonants and the vowel -e). Another example is the word trinken
(syllabic: trin-ken), meaning "to drink," which consists of two syllables: the first one, trin, is
made up of three consonants and the vowel -i, while the second syllable, ken, is made up of
two consonants and the vowel -e.

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