sch is just sh
German sch is the sound of English shoe, fish, she. Three letters, one sound: Schule (school), Tisch (table), waschen (to wash). Beyond that, three rules cover almost everything.
Words with sch
Schule
school
Tisch
table
Deutsch
German
sp- and st- at the start of a word
At the beginning of a word, or of a word part, the s in front of p or t is pronounced sh. Stadt sounds like schtat, spielen like schpielen, Sprache like schprache. Nothing in the spelling tells you.
Say them with sh at the front
spielen
to play
sprechen
to speak
Stadt
city, town
Straße
street
The letter s on its own
Before a vowel, s buzzes, like English zoo, with your voice on from the first moment. English speakers hiss here, because English sun and say hiss. German Sonne and sagen buzz. Everywhere else, s hisses like English sun.
Where s buzzes and where it hisses
| Position | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| s before a vowel | buzzing, like zoo | sagen, Sonne, Sie, lesen |
| s at the end or before a consonant | hissing, like bus | das, Haus, ist |
| ss and ß | hissing | essen, Wasser, Straße, heißen |
You write ss after a short vowel (essen) and ß after a long vowel or a diphthong (Straße, heißen). Both sound the same.
Buzzing s
Sonne
sun
lesen
to read
Sie
you (polite), she, they
In everyday sentences
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
Do you speak English?
Die Stadt ist schön.
The city is beautiful.
Die Sonne scheint.
The sun is shining.
Ich verstehe das nicht.
I don't understand that.
Wie heißen Sie?
What's your name?
