The German Consonant 'g' 

The German consonant 'g' is most often pronounced in the same way as the initial letter of the English word 'gone'. The /g/ phoneme is a velar plosive, which means that it is articulated in the soft palate or velum towards the back of the vocal tract. The closure is thus formed further back in the oral passage than with other consonants. The vocal cords vibrate as the consonant is articulated, which makes /g/ a 'voiced' sound.

Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear a native speaker say six German words all beginning with the letter 'g'. The words themselves are given in the box below along with an English translation:

Sounds 1: 'g' in initial position gestern (yesterday)    gut (good) ganz (quite)    Gold (gold) geben (to give)    Gier (greed)

Now click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear six German words in which the letter 'g' appears in the middle. The words themselves are supplied in the box below along with an English translation:

Sounds 2: 'g' in medial position Vogel (bird)    Fliege (fly) sagen (to say)    Lage (situation) Auge (eye)    zeigen (to show)

But when the German consonant 'g' appears at the end of a word it hardens to a /k/ phoneme. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear five German words in which the letter 'g' appears at the end of a word, and note how the sound has changed. The words themselves are supplied in the box below along with an English translation:

Sounds 3: 'g' in final position klug (intelligent)    Sieg (victory) Katalog (catalogue)    Zug (train) Krieg (war)

This change in sound at the end of the word is not as surprising as it may seem. The /g/ and /k/ phonemes are both velar plosives, the difference being that you use your vocal cords to form the sound /g/, i.e. it is 'voiced', whereas we do not use our vocal cords to make the /k/ sound i.e. we call it 'voiceless'. To put this to the test:

• Put your fingers lightly on your throat such that they rest on your voice box.
• Say the German word Gabel (= fork) and feel how your vocal cords vibrate as you form the initial sound.
• Now say the German word Kabel (= cable). Note that there is no vibration in your vocal cords this time.

To help you distinguish between the /g/ and /k/ sounds that the letter 'g' can make depending on its position in the word, listen to the following pairs of words. In the first word of each pair, 'g' will be pronounced /g/ as it appears in the middle of the word. In the second word in each pair, the letter 'g' appears at the end of a word, and is therefore pronounced as a /k/. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear these pairs of words which you can read in the box below:

Sounds 4: Distinguishing between /g/ and /k/ bürgen (to vouch for)    Burg (castle) Jürgen (Jürgen)    Jörg (Jörg) tagen (to meet (of government))    Tag (day) fliegen (to fly)    Flug (flight)

The '-ig' ending 

When 'g' forms part of an -ig suffix it is pronounced as -ich using the /ç/ phoneme discussed elsewhere on this site. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear six '-ig' words listed in the box below:

Sounds 5: The "-ig" suffix richtig (correct)    Honig (honey) lustig (funny)    traurig (sad) eilig (hurried)    fertig (finished)

In other parts of Germany however, you may hear the consonant in an -ig suffix pronounced in a way that is closer to the /-ig/ phoneme. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to listen to the words in the box above pronounced in this way.

 How to pronounce German 'gn' and 'ng'

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