The gap between spelling and speech
German is famously pronounced as it is spelled, letter by letter. Connected speech is another matter: unstressed syllables collapse, endings fuse with the next word, and whole pronouns shrink to a single consonant. You ask someone to repeat, they slow down, and suddenly every word is one you have known for years.
This is the normal speech of educated speakers, not sloppiness or dialect. Recognising it is the goal. Producing it is optional and should be rationed. In writing, use the full forms, except in chat messages to friends.
Written and spoken, side by side
Haben wir noch Milch?
[carefully: HA-ben wir noch Milch]
Have we still got milk?
the form on the page
Hamwer noch Milch?
[at speed: HAM-wer noch Milch]
Have we still got milk?
what you hear in a kitchen
Gehen wir jetzt?
[carefully: GE-hen wir jetzt]
Shall we go now?
Gehmer jetzt?
[at speed: GEH-mer jetzt]
Shall we go now?
The unstressed -en
One ending accounts for most of what you cannot hear. The -en of infinitives, of the wir-form and sie-form and of many plurals is not pronounced as a full syllable in normal speech. The e disappears, and the n that is left attaches itself to the consonant in front of it. English does the same thing without telling you: ribbon comes out as ribbm, and bacon ends in a syllabic ng.
Where the n lands
| Sound before -en | -en becomes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| lips | m | haben → habm, bleiben → bleibm, laufen → laufm |
| back of the mouth | ng | sagen → sagng, Wagen → Wagng, denken → denkng |
| tongue tip or front of the mouth | n | reden → redn, warten → wartn, lesen → lesn, machen → machn |
| no consonant | n | gehen → gehn, sehen → sehn, stehen → stehn |
Saying all three syllables of haben sounds like dictation.
Say these at speed
Wir haben das schon besprochen.
[wir habm das schon besprochn]
We've already discussed that.
Die Kinder wollen nach Hause gehen.
[die Kinder wolln nach Hause gehn]
The children want to go home.
Wir müssen noch zwei Stunden warten.
[wir müssn noch zwei Stundn wartn]
We still have to wait two hours.
Sie bleiben über Nacht bei Freunden.
[sie bleibm über Nacht bei Freundn]
They're staying overnight with friends.
Wir sagen dir morgen Bescheid.
[wir sagng dir morgn Bescheid]
We'll let you know tomorrow.
Words that grow together
The second process is fusion across word boundaries. Unstressed function words (pronouns, articles, es) have no beat of their own, so the neighbouring word absorbs them. The results look like new words, but they are two old ones stuck together.
The classic fusions
| written | spoken | English |
|---|---|---|
| haben wir | hamwer (south: hamma) | have we |
| gehen wir | gehmer (south: gemma) | shall we go |
| sind wir | simmer | are we |
| hast du | haste | have you |
| kannst du, willst du | kannste, willste | can you, will you |
| gibt es, geht es | gibt's, geht's | is there, how's it going |
| auf dem, auf das | aufm, aufs | on the |
| eine, einen, ein | 'ne, 'nen, 'n | a, an |
| nicht, ist | nich, is | not, is |
All of the middle column is normal educated speech. Of these, only gibt's and geht's are common in writing.
Fusion in sentences
Hast du mal eine Minute?
[haste mal ne Minute]
Have you got a minute?
Gibt's hier irgendwo einen Bäcker?
[gibts hier irgendwo nen Bäcker]
Is there a baker's around here?
Wie geht es dir denn so?
[wie gehts dir denn so]
So how are you doing?
Sind wir schon da?
[simmer schon da]
Are we there yet?
Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.
[das Buch liegt aufm Tisch]
The book is on the table.
What to copy and what to leave alone
Two piles
Do it: this is just normal German
Pronouncing these in full is the marked choice and sounds like reading aloud.
The unstressed -en: habm, sagng, redn.
The dropped -e of the ich-form: ich hab, ich geh, ich komm.
es as an s: geht's, gibt's, hat's.
Understand it, saying it is optional
These are colloquial and often regional. Recognise them instantly. A few of them among friends sound natural; all at once, from a learner, they sound like an impression.
hamwer, gehmer, simmer, and the southern hamma and gemma.
haste, kannste, willste, biste.
aufm, unterm, hinterm, überm.
'n Tach, 'tschuldigung, ne? at the end of every sentence.
Sentences the way you will hear them
Listen for the reduced shape
Ich weiß nicht, ob ich das schaffe.
[ich weiß nich, ob ich das schaffe]
I don't know if I can manage that.
Wollen wir uns nachher treffen?
[wolln-wer uns nachher treffn]
Shall we meet up later?
Da kann man nichts machen.
[da kann man nix machn]
Nothing to be done about it.
nichts often comes out as nix
Das ist doch gar nicht so schwer.
[das is doch gar nich so schwer]
That's not so hard, is it.
Entschuldigung, ich habe Sie nicht verstanden.
['tschuldigung, ich hab Sie nich verstandn]
Sorry, I didn't understand you.
