If you have already mastered the written font of German letters, you can move on to studying the printed version so that your letter is understandable not only to you.
What is it for?
- First, by writing words by hand, we connect motor memory to the learning process. It is a valuable resource when learning foreign language, you should definitely use it!
- Secondly, you are learning German not for virtual purposes, but for real life. And in real life, you really may need to fill out some forms, questionnaires on German possibly handwriting statements, etc.
But - you ask - aren't those Latin letters that we know from mathematics or from English lessons not enough? Aren't they the same letters?
And you will be partly right: of course, these are the same letters, but, as it should be for original cultures, there are some features in the German written font. And it is useful to know them so that when faced, to be able to read what is written.
Note! And for many people, handwriting is far from the school norm, to put it mildly. And in order to understand this kind of handwritten "fonts", it is important to have your own writing skill, which has evolved through different situations - writing in a hurry, on scraps of paper, in uncomfortable positions, on a school board with chalk or a marker, etc.
But the most important thing is that you need to clearly imagine the original, which each hand-writer subjects to his individual changes. This original will be discussed later.
German written fonts
IN currently there are several written German scripts that are used for teaching in elementary school, and, accordingly, are applied later in life. In Germany alone, for example, there are several "standards" adopted in different time.
Some federal states have clear guidelines for the use of a certain font in elementary school, while others rely on the choice of the teacher.
latin script(Lateinische Ausgangsschrift) was adopted in Germany in 1953. In practice, it differs little from its predecessor of 1941, the most noticeable is the new look of the capital letter S and the new cursive spelling of the letters X, x (the horizontal dash in the center also left the capital X), plus the “loops” were abolished - in the center capital letters E, R and in connecting dashes (arcs) of the letters O, V, W and Ö.
The GDR also made adjustments to learning programs For elementary school, and in 1958 the script type Schreibschrift-Vorlage was adopted, which I do not show here, since it repeats the above version almost exactly, except for the following innovations:
- new cursive lowercase t (see next font)
- slightly modified spelling of the letter ß (see next font)
- the right half of the X, x is now slightly separated from the left
- dots over i and j became dashes, similar to dashes over umlauts
- the horizontal line at the capital Z disappeared
And 10 years later, in 1968, in the same GDR, in order to make it easier for schoolchildren to write, this font was modified further, radically simplifying writing capital letters!
Note! Of the lowercase, only x has been changed, the rest is inherited from the 1958 font. Once again, pay attention to the spelling of ß and t, as well as the slight differences in f and r compared to writing in the “Latin” font. As a result, the following happened.
school writing font(Schulausgangsschrift):
Good to know! Germany also went in the direction of simplification, having developed its own version of a similar font in 1969, which they called “simplified”. The innovation and feature of this font was that all the connecting dashes were brought to the same level, to the rather "line" of small letters.
Simplified written font(Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift):
In general, it is not the same as the "school" font above, although there are some stylistic similarities. By the way, dots over i, j have been preserved, while strokes over umlauts, on the contrary, have become more like dots. Notice the lowercase s, t, f, z (!), as well as the ß.
Worth mentioning: another option, under the solid name of the "base font" (Grundschrift), all the letters of which, both lowercase and uppercase, are more like print, and they are written separately from each other.
This variant, developed in 2011, is being tested in some schools and, if adopted at the national level, could replace the three above.
Austrian script fonts
To complete the picture, I will give two more variants of the capital German alphabet, which are used in Austria.
I will leave them without comment, for independent comparison with the above fonts, drawing your attention only to a couple of features - in the 1969 font in lowercase t and f, the crossbar is written the same way (with a “loop”). Another feature concerns not the actual alphabet - the spelling of the number 9 differs from the version to which we are accustomed.
Austrian school font 1969:
Austrian school font(Österreichische Schulschrift) 1995:
What written German font should I use?
With such a variety of "standard" fonts, a reasonable question is which one to follow in writing?
There is no definitive answer to this question, but some recommendations can be made:
- If you are learning German with the aim of applying it to a specific country, such as Austria, choose between the written samples of that country. Otherwise - choose between the German options.
- For independent learners of German at a conscious age, I would recommend the "Latin" written script. This is a real classic and traditional German writing. For an adult, it will not be difficult to master it. One way or another, you can try each of the above options and choose the one that you like best.
- For children who are just learning to write letters and it is important to learn them faster, you can choose between "school" and "simplified" fonts. The latter is perhaps more preferred.
- For language learners in general education school this question is not particularly worth it, you need to follow the pattern that the teacher or textbook gives (and requires you to follow). As a rule, in our schools this is the "Latin" written script. Sometimes - his GDR modification of 1958, which gives out the way they write lowercase t.
What should be the outcome of this lesson:
- You must decide on the German font that you will follow on the letter. Try different variants and make your choice.
- You must learn to handwrite all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase and lowercase. repeat lesson German alphabet, then practice writing all the letters of the alphabet (in order) from memory. When self-checking, carefully compare each of your strokes with the sample. Repeat this paragraph until you make a single mistake - neither in the spelling of the letters, nor in their order.
Good to know! In the future, when doing writing assignments, from time to time compare your notes with a font sample, try to follow it always (including drafts), correct your handwriting. However, I will remind you of this.
The German language should start by learning the alphabet. Get used to how letters are written and pronounced. This short lesson breaks down the German alphabet with Russian transcription and pronunciation. Enjoy watching and good luck with your learning!
So, there are 30 letters in the German alphabet, 26 Latin, three umlauts ä, ö, ü and ligature ß. Latin letters you already know everything from English alphabet, but you will need to get used to the umlauts and the ligature.
Section entirely devoted to the German alphabet: German alphabet
Go to this section and read each article to consolidate the material. There you will find the alphabet in pictures, cursive and much more.
Exercises:
1. Arrange the letters in order (take a piece of paper with a pen and rewrite the letters in the correct order):
G, H, R, A, S
L, Z, I, K, N
O, S, J, V, M
K, A, M, I, N
E, J, Z, A, C
P, T, G, B, M
J, F, D, V, D
A, S, D, F, G
J, K, G, B, T
O, I, T, E, R
L, B, N, F, X
P, L, C, Y, Z
2. Cut out the letters and stick or arrange them in the correct order.
ABCkleben.pdf
3. Write the names of fruits and vegetables in German in order. Don't worry that you don't know these words yet. Just rewrite them.
german-alphavit-uprazhnenie1.pdf
4. Write the names of the toys in German in order.
It's time to reinforce this skill on the other hand - learn how to write German letters by hand. Moreover, not printed letters, namely written ones.
What is it for?
- First, by writing words by hand, we connect motor memory to the learning process. This is a valuable resource when learning a foreign language, it must be used!
- Secondly, you are learning German not for virtual purposes, but for real life. And in real life, you really may need to fill out some forms, questionnaires in German, perhaps handwritten applications, etc.
And you will be partly right: of course, these are the same letters, but, as it should be for original cultures, there are some features in the German written font. And it is useful to know them so that when faced, to be able to read what is written.
And for many people, handwriting is far from the school norm, to put it mildly. And in order to understand this kind of handwritten "fonts", it is important to have your own writing skill, which has evolved through different situations - writing in a hurry, on scraps of paper, in uncomfortable positions, on a school board with chalk or marker, etc. But most importantly, you need to clearly imagine to himself the original, which each hand-writer undergoes his own individual changes. This original will be discussed later.
German written fonts
At the moment, there are several written German scripts that are used for teaching in elementary school, and, accordingly, are used later in life. In one Germany, for example, there are several "standards" adopted at different times. Some federal states have clear guidelines for the use of a certain font in elementary school, while others rely on the choice of the teacher.latin script(Lateinische Ausgangsschrift) was adopted in Germany in 1953. In practice, it differs little from its predecessor of 1941, the most noticeable is the new look of the capital letter S and the new cursive spelling of the letters X, x (the horizontal dash in the center also left the capital X), plus the "loops" were abolished - in the center of capital letters E, R and in connecting dashes (arcs) of the letters O, V, W and Ö.
The GDR also made adjustments to the primary school curricula, and in 1958 the Schreibschrift-Vorlage script was adopted, which I do not show here, since it repeats the above variant almost exactly, with the exception of the following innovations:
- new cursive lowercase t (see next font)
- slightly modified spelling of the letter ß (see next font)
- the right half of the X, x is now slightly separated from the left
- dots over i and j became dashes, similar to dashes over umlauts
- the horizontal line at the capital Z disappeared
school writing font(Schulausgangsschrift):
Germany also went in the direction of simplification, having developed its own version of a similar font in 1969, which they called “simplified”. The innovation and feature of this font was that all connecting dashes were brought to the same level, to the rather "line" of small letters.
Simplified written font(Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift):
In general, it is not the same as the "school" font above, although there are some stylistic similarities. By the way, dots over i, j have been preserved, while strokes over umlauts, on the contrary, have become more like dots. Notice the lowercase s, t, f, z (!), as well as the ß.
It is worth mentioning another option, under the solid name of the "base font" (Grundschrift), all the letters of which, both lowercase and uppercase, are more similar to printed ones, and they are written separately from each other. This variant, developed in 2011, is being tested in some schools and, if adopted at the national level, could replace the three above.
Austrian script fonts
To complete the picture, I will give two more variants of the capital German alphabet, which are used in Austria. I will leave them without comment, for independent comparison with the above fonts, drawing your attention only to a couple of features - in the 1969 font in lowercase t and f, the crossbar is written the same way (with a "loop"). Another feature no longer concerns the alphabet itself - the spelling of the number 9 differs from the version to which we are accustomed.Austrian school font 1969:
Austrian school font(Österreichische Schulschrift) 1995:
What written German font should I use?
With such a variety of "standard" fonts, a reasonable question is which one to follow in writing? There is no definitive answer to this question, but some recommendations can be made:- If you are learning German with the aim of applying it to a specific country, such as Austria, choose between the written samples of that country. Otherwise, choose between the German variants.
- For independent learners of German at a conscious age, I would recommend the "Latin" written script. This is a real classic and traditional German writing. For an adult, it will not be difficult to master it. One way or another, you can try each of the above options and choose the one that you like best.
- For children who are just learning to write letters and it is important to learn them faster, you can choose between "school" and "simplified" fonts. The latter is perhaps more preferred.
- For language learners in a general education school, this issue is not particularly important, you need to follow the model that the teacher or textbook gives (and requires to follow). As a rule, in our schools this is the "Latin" script. Sometimes - his GDR modification of 1958, which gives out the way the lowercase t is written.
- You must decide on the German font that you will follow on the letter. Try different options and make your choice.
- You must learn to handwrite all the letters of the alphabet, uppercase and lowercase. Repeat the lesson, then practice writing all the letters of the alphabet (in order) from memory. When self-checking, carefully compare each of your strokes with the sample. Repeat this paragraph until you make a single mistake - neither in the spelling of the letters, nor in their order.
Each language has its own special sound structure, inherent only to it, with which it is necessary to get acquainted, since a person who does not speak correct pronunciation, will not be able to correctly perceive foreign speech by ear and will not be able to be understood correctly. German, along with sounds peculiar only to him, has a number of sounds, the pronunciation of which practically coincides with the corresponding sounds of the Russian language.
In German 42 sounds, for which records are used 26 letters Latin alphabet. Both in German and in Russian, vowels and consonants are distinguished. The German language has 15 simple vowels, 3 complex two-vowel sounds (diphthongs) and 24 consonants.
German alphabet
Ha
upsilon
Additional German letters to the Latin alphabet:
a-umlaut
u-umlaut
o-umlaut
escet
Vowel sounds The German language has two features:
1. At the beginning of a word or root, vowels are pronounced with a strong attack, resembling a slight click, which gives the German speech a jerky sound that is not characteristic of the Russian language.
2.
Vowels are divided into long and short, which explains their large quantity compared to Russian.
Long vowels are pronounced more intensely than the vowels of the Russian language, and do not change their character during the entire time of sounding. The consonant following the long vowel freely adjoins it, as if with a short pause. When transmitting German sounds in Russian letters, the length of vowels is indicated by a colon after the corresponding letter.
short vowels are pronounced more briefly than Russian vowels. The consonant sound following the short vowel tightly adjoins it, as if cutting it off.
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The length and shortness of vowels often have a semantic meaning and determine the general character and rhythm of German speech:
| Stadt | state | city | - | Staat | state | state |
| offen | O fan | open | - | Ofen | O: fan | stove |
Vowel pronounced for a long time:
A. in an open syllable, that is, a syllable ending in a vowel:
Vater f A:ta
Leben l e:Ben
b. in a conditionally closed syllable, i.e., a syllable that, when a word changes, can be opened:
Tag T A:To
Ta-ge T A:ge
On the letter, the length of the vowel is indicated:
A. doubling the letter
meer me:a
b. letter h after a vowel
Uhr y: a
V. letter e after i
Sie zi:
Vowel pronounced briefly, if followed by a consonant or group of consonants:
Consonants The German language has the following features:
A. they are pronounced more intensely than the corresponding Russian consonants;
b. German voiceless consonants p, t, k are pronounced with a breath, especially at the end of a word;
V. German consonants, unlike the corresponding Russian consonants, are never softened;
d. unlike the Russian language, where a voiceless consonant is voiced under the influence of the voiced consonant following it (from is tunnel, but: out from at home), in German the opposite phenomenon occurs: a voiceless consonant partially deafens the voiced one following it, remaining deaf (das Bad das bpa:t).
stress in German, it usually falls on the root of a word or on a prefix, that is, on the first syllable. When you change a word, the stress does not change. The pronunciation of German words is transmitted in this manual Russian letters without the use of generally accepted transcription marks. The transcription of the word and the stressed vowel are in different fonts. Such transcription allows (with some exceptions) to pronounce German words and sentences quite correctly.
Please note that when you hover over the Russian transcription, the IPA transcription will be displayed. This is for especially advanced students, if you do not need it, use only Russian.
Pronunciation of German vowels
Sound represented by letters A, aa, Ah, pronounced like Russian A(long) in the word "brother" or A(short) in the word "tact": baden b A: Dan, Saal for: l, Fahrt fa:at, Satz zats .
Sound represented by letters ä , Ah, pronounced like Russian uh in the word "era": Väter f e: that, wahlen V e: linen , Manner m uh on .
Sound represented by letters i, ie, ih, pronounced like Russian And in the word "blue": mir mi:a, sieben h And:ben, Ihr i:a, Mitte m And te, Tisch hush .
Sound represented by letters e, her, eh, pronounced like Russian uh or e in the words "these", "believe", "measure": nehmen n e: maine See ze:, gehen G e: en, Geld gelt, sechs zex. In an unstressed final syllable (endings -en, -er), as well as in some prefixes (for example: be-, ge- etc.) this sound is not pronounced clearly and is similar to Russian uh in the word "should": fahren f A: ren, beginnen bag And nan .
However, especially attentive listeners could notice the overtones of the "and" sound in the words Leben and See. There is no such sound in Russian or English, pay attention to it when listening to German speech. Pronounce it like Russian [e / e], and the position of the lips is like for [and]. You can also try to pronounce the diphthong [hey] without completely pronouncing the second part of the sound, i.e. the first part of the sound is [e / e], and the second [th], [th] just to the end and is not pronounced. Let's listen again:
Sound represented by letters oh oh oh, pronounced like Russian O(long) in the word "will" or O(short) in the word "clown": Oper O :pa ohne O :ne , Boot bo:t, Rolle R O le .
Sound represented by letters u, uh, pronounced like Russian at in the word "I will": du du:, Uhr y: a, hundert X at ndat .
Sound represented by letters u, uh, is absent in Russian. It's pronounced like Russian Yu in the words "jury", "mashed potatoes": führen f Yu: ren, funf funf, Ubung Yu:bun(g). Rounding the lips, as for [y], we pronounce [and]. Although in Russian transcription it will be designated as [yu], with the sound [yu] he Not is.
Sound represented by letters oh, oh, is also absent in Russian. Rounding the lips, as for [o], we pronounce [e]. Reminds me of Russian yo : schön w yo: n, Sohne h yo:ne, Loffel l yo fel, offnen yo fnen . Although in Russian transcription it will be denoted as [e], with the sound [e] he Not is.
ei, ai, pronounced like Russian ah into the words "give": drei dry, Weise V A yze .
Diphthong denoted by letters au, pronounced like Russian ay in the word "howitzer": blau bl A at, Faust f A mouth .
Diphthong denoted by letters eu, au, pronounced like Russian Ouch in the word "your": neu Noah, Hauser X Ouch behind .
Pronunciation of German consonants
Many consonant sounds of German are pronounced almost the same as the corresponding sounds of Russian: b b, p P, w V, f f, s c or h(before a vowel or between two vowels), k To,g G,n n, m m, z c.
Sound represented by letters ch(after e, i, ö, ü and after l, m, n) pronounced like soft Russian xx in the word "chemistry": welche V uh lhe, richtig R And htikh , manchmal m A nkhmal .
The sound represented by the letter h(at the beginning of a word or syllable) is pronounced as a noisy exhalation to the next vowel. In Russian, this sound is absent, however, it is enough to pronounce Russian [x] with a light exhalation: halt halt, Herz hertz .
Sound represented by letters l, ll, pronounced as an average between Russian soft l(in the word "summer") and solid l(in the word "lacquer"): Ball ball, alt alto .
The sound represented by the letter j, pronounced like Russian th before the corresponding vowels (for example: "Christmas tree", "pit", "south"): Jacke ya ke, jemand ye:manta .
R pronunciation
Consonant sound denoted by a letter r, can also sound like a vowel sound close to the Russian sound A.
- After long vowels (with the exception of long "a") in stressed and unstressed syllables that are final, for example:
factor f A who: a,wir V And:A, Clavier clave And:A, Nature nat at:A .There may be exceptions:
Haar ha:r, Ha: ; Bart Bart, ba:at ; Arzt arts, a:tst ; Quark quark, kva:k ; Quartz quartz, kva:c ; Harz harz - In unstressed prefixes: er-, her-, ver-, zer-, for example:
erfahren eaf A:ren , verbringen February And:n(g)en , zerstampfen zeasht A mpfeng , hervor heaf O:A . - In the final unstressed - er, and also when consonants follow it, for example:
Vater f A that, immer i:ma, besser b uh:sa, anders A ndas, Kindern To And ndang, auf Wiedersehen auf in And:daze:en .
In other cases, it is pronounced as a consonant sound. There are three types of pronunciation of the consonant sound "r" (the 2nd option is now more common):
- If you touch your fingers at the base of your neck and try to pronounce "r" so that your fingertips feel it, you get the first "r".
- If you pronounce "g", try to continue the sound ("gggggg..r.."), you get the second sound ("growl of the tiger").
- The sound pronounced with the tip of the tongue is thus the "Russian" "r".
Remember the rules for reading some letter combinations:
ch after a, o, u it is read like Russian X: Buch boo:x, Fach fah; after all other vowels, as well as after l, m, n is read as xx: recht recht, Wichtig V And htikh Milch milch .
chs, as well as the letter X, read like Russian ks: wechseln V uh kseln .
ck reads like Russian To: Stuck piece, Ecke uh ke .
sch reads like Russian w: Schuh shu:, waschen V A: sheng .
st PC: Stella PC uh le .
sp read at the beginning of a word or root like Russian sp: Spiel spire, sprechen sprechen .
tz reads like Russian c: Platz parade ground, sitzen h And tsen .
ng reads like ... English sound [ŋ]. The back of the tongue closes with the lowered soft palate, and air passes through the nasal cavity. In order to achieve the desired position of the organs of speech, one can inhale through the nose with the mouth wide open, then pronounce the sound [ŋ] while exhaling air through the nose. In Russian transcription, we will denote as n(g), because G there still sometimes they pronounce, as in the first word: Übung Yu:bung, verbringen February And:n(g)en , Ding dyn(g). Also this sound is in combination nk: bank baŋk, links liŋx, tanken T Aŋken .
From letter to sound
| Letters of the German alphabet | Russian transcription |
Examples | |
| ah, ah, ah | A: | Rat | pa:t |
| Saat | per:t | ||
| fahren | f A:ren | ||
| A | A | wann | van |
| ah, ah | e: | spat | sp:t |
| zahlen | c uh:linen | ||
| ai | ah | Mai | May |
| au | ay | also | A wow |
| au | Ouch | Hauser | X O yza |
| b, bb | b | bitte | b And te |
| ebbe | uh bae | ||
| (at the end of a word) | P | ab | up |
| With | To | Cafe | cafe e: |
| ch (after a, o, u) | X | Nacht | nakht |
| (after other vowels and after l, m, n) | xx | ich | uh |
| chs | ks | sechs | zex |
| ck | To | wecken | V uh ken |
| d, dd | d | dort | dort |
| Kladde | class A de | ||
| (at the end of a word) | T | bald | balt |
| dt | T | Stadt | state |
| e, her, eh | e:, e: | er | e:a |
| e: (and) | Tee | those: (and) | |
| gehen | ge:en | ||
| e | uh | etwas | uh yours |
| dieses | d And: ze | ||
| ei | ah | mein | lane |
| eu | Ouch | neun | noin |
| fff | f | frei | fry |
| Schiff | cipher | ||
| g, gg | G | gut | gu:t |
| flagge | fl A ge | ||
| (at the end of a word) | To | Tag | So |
| (in suffix -ig) | xx | zwanzig | color A ncih |
| h (at the beginning of a word and syllable) | X | haben | X A:ben |
| behalten | bah A lten | ||
| (unreadable after vowels) | sehen | h e:en | |
| i, ie, ih | And: | wir | w:a |
| sieben | h And:ben | ||
| Ihnen | i:nen | ||
| i | And | Zimmer | c And ma |
| j | th | Jahr | th A: |
| k | To | kind | kint |
| l, ll | eh | elf | elf |
| halle | X A le | ||
| m, mm | m | machen | m A hyung |
| comment | To O maine | ||
| n, nn | n | Name | n A: me |
| Dann | Dan | ||
| ng | n(g) | Ding | dyn(g) |
| oh, oh, oh | O: | oben | O: ben |
| Boot | bo:t | ||
| Ohr | o:a | ||
| o | O | night | nox |
| oh, oh | "yo:" | Mobel | m yo: belle |
| Sohne | h yo: ne | ||
| Öl | yo: eh | ||
| ö | "yo" | zwolf | zwölf |
| offnen | and about: fnen | ||
| p, pp | P | parken | P A rken |
| knapp | knap | ||
| pf | pf | Pfennig | poof |
| qu | sq. | Qualitat | qualite e: T |
| r, rh | R | Arbeiter | A rbyte |
| Rhine | R A yin(Rhine) | ||
| r | A | wir | V And:A |
| erfahren | eaf A:ren | ||
| Vater | f A that | ||
| s (before vowels or between vowels) | h | sagen | h A:gen |
| unser | at nza | ||
| Kase | To uh:ze | ||
| (at the end of a word) | With | das | das |
| ss, ß | With | lassen | l A sen |
| Fuss | fu:s | ||
| sch | w | Schule | w at:le |
| sp | sp | sprechen | spr uh hyung |
| st | PC | stellen | PC uh linen |
| t, tt, th | T | Tisch | hush |
| satt | zat | ||
| Theater | te A: that | ||
| tz | c | setzen | h uh tsen |
| u, uh | at: | Dusche | d at: she |
| Uhr | y: a | ||
| u | at | und | unt |
| u, uh | "Yu:" | Tur | ty:a |
| fuhren | f Yu:ren | ||
| uber | Yu: ba | ||
| ü | "Yu" | funf | funf |
| uppig | Yu shove | ||
| v (in German words) | f | vier | fi:a |
| (in foreign words) | V | visite | visas And: te |
| November | new uh mba | ||
| w | V | Wagen | V A: gene |
| x | ks | Taxi | T A xi |
| y | "Yu:" | Lyrik | l Yu:rick |
| y | "Yu" | Zylinder | tsul And nda |
| z | c | zahlen | c A:linen |
A - pronounced like Russian a.
Please note that at the end b reads like voiceless Russian n.
C - used extremely rarely and usually in words of foreign origin. It is most often used in the letter combination CH, which sounds like the Russian Х after the German vowels A, O, U and the diphthong (letter combination) AU, in other cases it is pronounced like ХЬ. It should be noted that the German CH- very soft.
But there is still a difference from the Russian X. It is usually quite faintly audible and similar to English H. In Russian, a similar sound is observed in the word verse, fur.
In very few foreign words, CH can be read as Russian Sh or Ch.
- Chef[chief] - chief, boss
- Chic[chic] - chic
Letter C often used in words of foreign origin. It can be read like the Russian K, but not always.
Example:
- Christus[christus] - Christ
- Camping[camping] - camping
The letter combination CK is read as Russian К.
Nota bene! You may be a little confused by the number of possible readings, but almost always you will only encounter phrases. CH And CK, which are read strictly according to the rules. Remember just one very frequently used word, language.
Here we hear a voiced D at the beginning of a word and a voiceless T at the end of a word.
Sometimes you will see the phrase -dt, it is usually read as a simple Russian T.
E - pronounced like a weak Russian E. According to the expert, this letter in pronunciation is something in between the Russian E and I. The main thing when pronouncing E don't overdo the accent. The German E is always pronounced weakly, not at all like the Russian E in the words “this”, “era”.
| endlich | finally |
| eng | narrow |
In German, there is also a combination of two vowels. The combination of two vowels in German is called a diphthong. We have already seen such combinations with the letter A — AI, AU. But there they were read clearly, predictably. However, there are also differences.
What is a diphthong? This is the pronunciation of two vowels one after the other as a transition from one vowel to another. You pronounce the first vowel and, as if gradually, move on to the second.
A diphthong is a smooth transition from one vowel to another.
So diphthongs:
EI - pronounced close to Russian AI. Remember! Not HEY, namely AY!
BUT! Before the letter L, the diphthong EI is read as YAY. This is due to the peculiarities of the German letter L.
F - pronounced like Russian F.
H - reads like Russian Х (only very deaf, like a simple exhalation) only at the beginning of a word, root syllables and
some suffixes. Try to pronounce this sound only with your throat, as a normal exhalation.
In all other cases, this letter is not readable, but after a vowel it indicates the longitude of the vowel. In transcription, we will indicate longitude with a colon symbol - :
The letter combination IE - reads like a long Russian AND.
Attention! Vowel length in German is very important, because this often changes the meaning of the word. Therefore, try to "pull" long vowels longer.
K - reads like Russian K.
L - usually rendered as Russian L, although this is somewhat harder than the usual Russian L. Those. this is a soft L. Look at the example with the word Liebe on an example with IE. The double LL is pronounced the same as the single L.
Attention! Remember that doubling a consonant (LL, TT, MM) is an indication that the vowel that preceded them is short.
M - reads like Russian M.
N - reads like Russian Н. There is also the phrase NG, which is pronounced like a nasal N. At the same time, G is not even close there! Only long, nasal Russian N.
O - reads like Russian O.
P - reads like Russian П. The letter combination PH is read as Russian Ф.
The letter combination PF is read as a diphthong PF. Those. a sound in which the letter P smoothly turns into the letter F.
Q - is ALWAYS used as a letter combination QU, which is read as Russian KV.
| Quark | cottage cheese |
| quer | across, transverse |
R - and here we have big problems. Until now, this letter is read differently. We will give our expert interpretation.
So! At the beginning of a word or before a vowel, the German R is read as a voiceless R. NO Russian R! Remember the burring Lenin, if it's hard for you
imagine it. But after the vowel, the German R is not actually pronounced, although it is heard. Press your tongue against your lower teeth and WITHOUT THE HELP of your tongue, try to QUIETLY pronounce R only with your throat. This will be approximately what you need.
The letter combination RH is read like a regular German R.
There are also phrases -AR, -ER, -OR, -IER. Remember a simple rule.
At the end of a word/syllable, the R sound "falls out" and the vowel becomes more open. In the middle of a word/syllable, the R sound is pronounced like a normal German R. And in the case of -ER at the end of a word / syllable, we hear a barely perceptible throat A.
S - problems again. But it's pretty easy to remember. Before and between vowels - pronounced like Russian Z, at the end of the word - like Russian C. Double SS is read like short Russian C, sometimes it is displayed as the letter es-tset (ß) - which is similar in spelling to a small capital Russian letter V.
The letter combination SCH is read as Russian Ш
T - reads like Russian T (slightly aspirated). The letter combination TH is read like a normal German T. The letter combination TSCH is read like Russian
H, but a little harder.
W - reads like Russian В.
