ei, ie, au and eu
Four vowel combinations carry a huge share of everyday German. Learn to tell ei from ie once and for all, and master the sounds of au, eu and äu.
ei — say "eye"
The combination ei is always pronounced like the English word "eye" (IPA aɪ). It never sounds like ay in "day". So nein is "nine", die Zeit is "tsite", and eins is "ines" with an eye-sound at the start.
Here is a trick that works in German: pronounce the ENGLISH NAME of the second letter. In ei the second letter is i, and the English letter name "i" is exactly the sound you need: eye. The rarer spelling ai, as in Mai (May), sounds exactly the same.
nein
no
die Zeit
the time
eins
one
ie — say "ee"
The combination ie is the mirror image and the classic mix-up. It is not a diphthong at all: it is simply a long ee sound, like the ee in "see" (IPA long iː). Das Bier is "beer", vier is "feer", sieben starts like "zee".
The same trick applies: the second letter is e, and the English letter name "e" is the sound: ee. So ei = eye, ie = ee — the second letter does the talking. Mixing these up creates real misunderstandings, because pairs like nein (no) and nie (never) sit close together in everyday speech.
das Bier
the beer
vier
four
sieben
seven
au — say "ow"
The combination au sounds like the ow in English "how" or the ou in "house" (IPA aʊ). Das Haus is nearly identical to English "house", which makes this the friendliest German diphthong.
Keep it as one smooth glide from ah towards oo — do not split it into two separate vowels. You will meet it constantly: die Frau (the woman), kaufen (to buy), auch (also).
das Haus
the house
die Frau
the woman
kaufen
to buy
eu and äu — say "oy"
Both eu and äu are pronounced like the oy in English "boy" (IPA ɔʏ). They are the same sound with two spellings: neun (nine) is "noyn", heute (today) is "HOY-te", Deutschland is "DOYTCH-lant".
The spelling äu appears when a word with au forms a plural or related word: das Haus becomes die Häuser ("HOY-za"). The dots switch the sound from ow to oy. When you read a new word, scan for these four combinations first — they are pronounced as one unit, never letter by letter.
neun
nine
heute
today
Deutschland
Germany
die Häuser
the houses
äu sounds exactly like eu
Check yourself
Quick checks on this lesson. Get at least three quarters right to mark it as completed.
How is ei pronounced, as in "nein"?
Practise what you learned
Sound and word recordings on this page come from Wikimedia Commons contributors and are used under Creative Commons licences. See the audio credits for authors and sources.