Learn about the pronunciation of consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate German Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 5 German consonants. |
| pf, ʁ, ʀ, r, ts |
| These consonant sounds do not appear in English, so they'll be trickier than the last lot. |
| Be sure to practice them because these are the unique sounds that learners often get wrong! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| pf |
| Pfahl (pole) |
| Apfel (apple) |
| Pferd (horse) |
| "(voiceless labiodental fricative) This is quite a rare sound that doesn't appear in many languages. It is essentially a P and an F sound combined. |
| One way to produce this sound, is to say the English word 'cupfull'. |
| Pay attention to the way the bottom lip and teeth meet and seperate when producing this sound." |
| pf, pf (slowly) |
| pf, pf (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ʁ |
| Rost (rust) |
| Rast (break) |
| Rennauto (racing car) |
| "(voiced uvular fricative) Do you know that fleshy part that hangs down from the roof of your mouth? It's called the uvular. |
| Narrow that section with the back part of your tongue until you start making a sound. |
| It sounds a bit like the noise you make when you're gargling. |
| This sound is voiced, meaning you should feel vibrations coming from your throat." |
| ʁ, ʁ (slowly) |
| ʁ, ʁ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ʀ |
| Rübe (carrot) |
| Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr area) |
| Reifen (tire) |
| "(voiced uvular trill) This consonant also utilises the uvular. |
| Lightly contact it with the back part of your tongue and try to direct just enough air through it so that the opening opens and closes rapidly. |
| This kind of articulation is called a trill. |
| This sound is also voiced, so you should feel vibrations coming from your throat." |
| ʀ, ʀ (slowly) |
| ʀ, ʀ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| r |
| Schmarrn (nonsense) |
| Grüße (greetings) |
| Start (start) |
| (voiced alveolar trill) This is also known as a rolled R, or rolling your R's. Lightly contact the gums directly behind your top teeth with the tip of your tongue and try to direct just enough air through it so that the opening opens and closes rapidly -- as if fluttering or vibrating. It almost sounds like a rapid "D" sound. |
| One useful trick, is to repeat the words "butter" or "ladder" really *really* quickly. Eventually, you'll produce the rolled R sound. |
| Yet another trick, is to think of olden day movies. Do you remember how Dracula first introduced himself? Like DO-RA-CU-LA. Try to say it like this multiple times. You want to focus on the D and R sound in the word "dracula". This *very* quick transitioning from the D to the R can sometimes allow you to prononuce the rolled R sound. |
| Okay, let's break this sound down. |
| r, r (slowly) |
| r, r (slowly) |
| The final consonant for this lesson is... |
| ts |
| Zahl (number) |
| Zweck (purpose) |
| Zorn (anger) |
| "(voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate) This consonant sound is like a combination of a T and an S sound. |
| It starts off as a t sound, but ends with an s sound. |
| Here's a great tip. You can produce this sound by saying the word 'cats', so one trick is to bounce off of the ending when trying to pronounce this consonant sound." |
| ts, ts (slowly) |
| ts, ts (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned 5 German consonants. |
| pf, ʁ, ʀ, r, ts |
| These consonant sounds do not appear in English, so be sure to practice them! |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn 3 more consonant sounds that are not in the English language. |
| How difficult were they to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate German Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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