LinguaLetter groups that make one sound
German uses a few consonant groups again and again. sch is simply English “sh”: Schule, Tisch. ch has two sounds, and the vowel before it decides which. After a, o, u and au it is a rough sound far back in the throat, as in Scottish “loch”: Bach, Buch, acht, auch. After e, i, ä, ö, ü, ei, eu and after l, n, r it is a soft hiss at the front of the mouth, like the start of “huge” whispered: ich, Milch. And st and sp at the START of a word sound “sht” and “shp”: Stadt, Stein, Sport, spielen.
Three letters, one sound: s, c, h. Write them close together. Said like English “sh”, with rounded lips.
Two letters, two possible sounds. After a, o, u, au: rough, at the back (Buch). After e, i and the rest: soft, at the front (ich).
At the start of a word, st sounds “sht”: Stadt, Stein. Inside or at the end it stays a plain “st”: ist, Fenster.
The same rule: sp at the start of a word is “shp”: Sport, spielen. Inside a word it stays “sp”: Wespe.
| Group | How it sounds | Words |
|---|---|---|
| sch | “sh” | Schule, Tisch |
| ch (a, o, u, au) | rough, at the back, as in “loch” | Bach, Buch, acht, auch |
| ch (e, i, …) | soft, at the front | ich, Milch |
| st-, sp- | “sht”, “shp” at the start of a word | Stadt, Stein, Sport, spielen |
| ng | one sound, as in “singer”, no g after it | lang, singen |
| pf | p and f at once | Apfel, Kopf |
| qu | “kv” | Quelle |
| -er | at the end, a short “uh” | Vater, Wasser |
Ich spiele Fußball.I play football.
Die Schule ist in der Stadt.The school is in the town.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| die Schule | school | Die Schule beginnt um acht. School starts at eight. |
| der Tisch | table | Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. The book is on the table. |
| ich | I | Ich trinke Milch. I drink milk. |
| die Milch | milk | Die Milch ist kalt. The milk is cold. |
| das Buch | book | Das Buch ist spannend. The book is exciting. |
| acht | eight | Es ist acht Uhr. It’s eight o’clock. |
| die Stadt | town, city | Berlin ist eine große Stadt. Berlin is a big city. |
| der Stein | stone | Der Stein ist schwer. The stone is heavy. |
| der Sport | sport | Sport macht Spaß. Sport is fun. |
| spielen | to play | Die Kinder spielen draußen. The children are playing outside. |
| der Apfel | apple | Der Apfel ist grün. The apple is green. |
| die Quelle | spring (of water), source | Das Wasser kommt aus der Quelle. The water comes from the spring. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- trace the letter: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
In which word is ch the SOFT sound at the front of the mouth, as in ich?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.