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German Consonants Posted by on Apr 24, 2009 in Language

Letters b, d, g, p, t, k are pretty much the same as English, but there are exceptions. When b, d, g is at the end of the syllable it changes to p, t, k respectively.

b to p: (abheben) is pronounced as apheben

d to t: (sind) is pronounced as sint

g to k: (tag) is pronounced as tak

When an h follows a vowel it’s silent. You can see this in words like (gehen) and (sehen)

Here are some other pointers:

German v is pronounced like an English f : (der Vater) is pronounced as der Fater

German w is pronounced like an English v : (das Wunder) is pronounced as das Vunder

German z is pronounced like a ts : (die Zeit) is pronounced as die Tsite

Here are some consonant clusters that you might come across:

ck is pronounced as k : (der Schock) is pronounced as der Shock

ch is the ch in the word loch as in the loch ness monster : (mich)

pf is pronounced with both consonants : (das Pferd)

ph is pronounced as f : (das Alphabet) is pronounced as das Alfabet

qu is pronounced as kv : (die Qual) is pronounced as die Kval

sch is pronounced as sh : (die Schule) is pronounced as die Shule

sp and st is pronounced as shp and sht respectively : (sprechen) is pronounced as shprechen. (der Stephanstag) is pronounced as der Shtephanstag

th is pronounced as an English t : (das Theater) is pronounced as das Teater

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