LinguaLong or short? The spelling tells you
Every German vowel is either long or short, and the length can change the word. Luckily the spelling usually shows it. A DOUBLED consonant after a vowel makes it short: Mitte, Bett, Zimmer, kommen. An h after a vowel makes it long, and the h itself is silent: Sohn, Uhr. A DOUBLED vowel is long too: Boot, Meer, Tee. Compare Sonne (sun), with a short o before nn, and Sohn (son), with a long o before h.
Two identical consonants: the vowel before them is short and quick. Bett, Mitte.
The same signal with m: Zimmer, kommen. Write both m with their arches the same height.
Two identical vowels: one long sound, not two. Meer is “mair”, Tee is “tay” without the y-glide.
The same with o: Boot is one long, round “oh”.
| Word | Vowel | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sonne | short o (nn) | sun |
| Sohn | long o (h) | son |
| Bett | short e (tt) | bed |
| Beet | long e (ee) | flower bed |
| Mitte | short i (tt) | middle |
| Miete | long i (ie) | rent |
Second rule: at the END of a word, b, d and g lose their voice and sound like p, t and k. gelb (yellow) is said “gelp”, Hund (dog) “hoont”, Tag (day) “tahk”, Wald (forest) “valt”. You still write b, d, g, because a longer form of the word brings the real sound back: Hunde, Tage.
| Word | You hear | Longer form |
|---|---|---|
| gelb | p | gelbe |
| Hund | t | Hunde |
| Tag | k | Tage |
| Wald | t | Wälder |
Third rule, the one you SEE: every noun starts with a capital letter, wherever it stands in the sentence: Der Hund liegt im Bett. Only nouns, names and the first word of a sentence get a capital; gelb and kommen stay small. For a reader this is a gift: a capital letter in the middle of a sentence tells you “this is a thing, a person or a place”.
Der Hund liegt im Bett.The dog is lying in the bed.
Das Boot ist auf dem Meer.The boat is on the sea.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| der Hund | dog | Der Hund bellt. The dog is barking. |
| der Tag | day | Heute ist ein schöner Tag. Today is a lovely day. |
| gelb | yellow | Die Sonne ist gelb. The sun is yellow. |
| der Sohn | son | Das ist mein Sohn Max. This is my son Max. |
| das Boot | boat | Das Boot ist klein. The boat is small. |
| das Meer | sea | Das Meer ist blau. The sea is blue. |
| die Mitte | middle, centre | Der Tisch steht in der Mitte. The table is in the middle. |
| kommen | to come | Kommst du mit? Are you coming along? |
| das Bett | bed | Das Bett ist groß. The bed is big. |
| das Zimmer | room | Das Zimmer hat zwei Fenster. The room has two windows. |
| der Wald | forest, woods | Wir gehen in den Wald. We’re going into the woods. |
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
Which word has a SHORT vowel?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.