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The German Consonants 'sp' 

and 'st' Pronunciation Homepage | Back < | Forward > | German Course | Alphabet | Verb tables |

Glossary

German Consonants

1. The letter 'b'

2. The letters 'ch'

3. 'ch' at the start of 

words

4. 'chs' and 'ck' sounds

5. The letter 'd'

6. 'd' plus another

consonant

7. The letter 'f'

8. The letter 'g'

9. 'gn' and 'ng' sounds

10. Loan words

containing 'g'

11. The letter 'h'

12. The letter 'j'

13. The letter 'k'

14. 'k' plus another

consonant

15. The letter 'l'

16. The letter 'm'

17. 'm' plus another

consonant

18. The letter 'n'19. 'ng' and 'nk' sounds

20. The letter 'p'

21. 'p' plus other

consonants

22. The 'pf' sound

23. The letter 'q'

24. The consonantal 'r'

25. 'r' plus another

consonant

26. The vocalic 'r'

27. The letter 's'

28. The 'sch' sound

29. 'sp' and 'st' sounds

30. The letter 't'

31. 't' in consonant

clusters

32. The letter 'v'

33. The letter 'w'

34. The letter 'y'

35. The letter 'z'

German Pronunciation

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German Consonants

  > Pronunciation

The German consonants 'sp'  and 'st' 

When they occur at the beginning of a word, the German consonant

combinations 'sp'   and 'st'   are pronounced 'schp-'   and 'scht-'

respectively. To practise these sounds, click either here   or on the

sound icon on the left. The eight words that you will hear are supplied in the

box below along with an English translation:

  Sounds 1: 'sp'  and 'st'  at the start of a word

Straße

(street)

Stein

(stone)

Stadt(town; city)

Stoff (material)

Sport

(sport)

Speisekarte

(menu)

Spiel

(sport)

Sparkasse

(savings bank)

But when 'sp' and 'st' occur in the middle or at the end of a word, then

these consonant combinations are pronounced as they would be in

English. This means that 'sp'   is pronounced as it would be in the

English word 'lisp'  and 'st' is pronounced as it would be in the English word

'lost' . Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to listen to six words

in which 'sp' and 'st' appear in either medial or final position.

  Sounds 2: 'sp'  and 'st'  in medial and final position

Wespe

(wasp)

Knospe

(bud)

Donnerstag

(Thursday)

Gast

(guest)

Liste(list) Husten(cough)

An exception to the above rule occurs when words beginning with 'sp'

and 'st' are used as the final element in a compound noun. Although

these sounds are positioned in the middle of the compound noun, the

consonant combinations are still pronounced as they would be at the start of 

a word, i.e. as 'schp-' and 'scht-'. Click either here or on the sound icon on

the left to hear four compound nouns containing 'sp'  and 'st'   in medial

an Consonants 'sp' and 'st' - Paul Joyce http://joycep.myweb.port.ac.uk/pronounce/conso

4 Apr 2016

8/18/2019 The German Consonants 'Sp' and 'St'

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position.

  Sounds 3: 'sp'  and 'st'  within compound nouns

Hauptstadt

(capital city)

Hauptstraße

(high street)

Ballspiel

(ball game)

Profisport

(professional sport)

How to pronounce the German consonant 't' 

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© Paul Joyce

an Consonants 'sp' and 'st' - Paul Joyce http://joycep.myweb.port.ac.uk/pronounce/conso

4 Apr 2016