LinguaReading a word you have never seen
With this unit you can read almost any German word aloud. You know the vowel pairs ei, ie, eu/äu and au; the consonant groups sch, the two sounds of ch, st and sp at the start of a word, ng, pf and qu; that a doubled consonant makes a vowel short while an h or a doubled vowel makes it long; that b, d, g harden at the end of a word; and that every noun wears a capital letter.
| Spelling | Sound | Words |
|---|---|---|
| ei | “eye” | mein, Wein, Stein |
| ie | long “ee” | Bier, Wien, spielen |
| eu, äu | “oy” | neu, heute, Häuser |
| au | “ow” | Haus, Frau, auch |
| sch | “sh” | Schule, Tisch |
| ch | back after a, o, u, au; front after the rest | Buch, acht, ich, Milch |
| st-, sp- | “sht”, “shp” at the start | Stadt, Sport |
| tt, mm, nn … | short vowel before | Bett, Zimmer, Sonne |
| h, ee, oo | long vowel | Sohn, Meer, Boot |
| -b, -d, -g | p, t, k | gelb, Hund, Tag |
Capital Q with its tail, then u. The pair always sounds “kv”: Quelle.
Capital P, then f. Say p and f in one go, lips closed then biting: Pferd, Apfel.
n, then g with its tail. Together they are one sound from the back of the nose, with no g after it: lang, singen.
Try the rules on a long word you have never seen: Spielzeug (toy). sp at the start: “shp”. ie: long “ee”. z: “ts”. eu: “oy”. Final g: k. Result: “SHPEEL-tsoyk”. And the capital S tells you before you read a single sound that it is a noun.
Heute spielt mein Sohn im Wald.Today my son is playing in the woods.
Ich trinke Milch und Tee.I drink milk and tea.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| der Wein | wine | Ein Glas Wein, bitte. A glass of wine, please. |
| das Haus | house | Das Haus hat ein rotes Dach. The house has a red roof. |
| heute | today | Heute ist es kalt. It’s cold today. |
| die Schule | school | Die Schule ist groß. The school is big. |
| die Milch | milk | Kaffee mit Milch, bitte. Coffee with milk, please. |
| der Sport | sport | Ich mache gern Sport. I like doing sport. |
| der Hund | dog | Der Hund heißt Bello. The dog’s name is Bello. |
| der Tag | day | Der Tag beginnt früh. The day starts early. |
| das Meer | sea | Wir fahren ans Meer. We’re going to the seaside. |
| das Zimmer | room | Das Zimmer ist hell. The room is bright. |
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 do you hear “eye”?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.