V is like the English (and German) “F” in words of Germanic origin (so “Vater” has the same initial sound as “father”), but in words of foreign origin it's usually pronounced like the English V / German W (below).You may already know the kn sound from the Yiddish word 'knish.' In the case of pf (as in Pferd, a horse) and ps (as in Psychologie), just get ready to say a p, with your lips closed, and say the second letter instead, letting it force them open a bit. This is not as hard as it sounds, although it takes some getting used to. In the combinations “kn,” “pf,” and 'ps,' both letters are pronounced.J is pronounced like the English “Y” (so “jung” has the same initial sound as its English cognate “young”).

B at the end of a syllable is softened (“devoiced”) to more of a P sound similarily, D and G at the end of a syllable sound like T and K, respectively.

This term he notes as meaning 'independencedeclarations' (sic), which is perhaps a parchment-saving way our own Declaration of Independence could have been titled.Many German consonants have the same pronunciation as they do in English. Twain's frustrations with learning German are well documented in his book A Tramp Abroad. And to think we English language speakers consider it a feat to verbalize 'antidisestablishmentarianism' without stumbling.Īs David Sedaris noted in his New Yorker article about learning German, this word is most astutely described as another option for 'partner' or 'lover,' but with a more transient twist: 'the person I am with today.' A more elegant, proper version of the term is lebensabschnittgefährte.

What follows are 10 of our favorite seemingly-never-ending German words, which earn a spot on our list thanks to characteristics like technicality, definition, adaptation, or sheer perseverance in length. As Mark Twain put it, 'Some German words are so long that they have perspective.'

As a result, the language is rife with lanky terms. Compound words exist in many languages, but German's grammar construction in particular lends itself to easily tacking on parts to make single words stretch across a page.

German words in english sound