The German consonant 'p' + another consonant 

The German consonant 'p' retains its sound when used in combination with other consonants. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear a native speaker recite four words in which the letter 'p' appears in a consonant cluster at the beginning. The words themselves are given in the box below along with an English translation:

Sounds 1: 'p' + consonant in initial position Platz (room, space)    plötzlich (suddenly) prima (fantastic)    Problem (problem)

Attention should be paid however to the German consonant clusters 'psy', 'pn' and 'pt'. In all of the clusters, the 'p' sound is spoken at the beginning of the word in German, whereas it is silent in similar English constructions. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear a native speaker say six words that begin with the consonant clusters 'psy-', 'pn-' and 'pt-'. Note in particular the way in which the letter 'y' is pronounced in 'psy' clusters:

Sounds 2: Consonant clusters 'psy', 'pn' and 'pt' Psychologie (psychology)    psychisch (psychic) Psychothriller (psychothriller)    Psychiatrie (psychiatry) pneumatisch (psychothriller)    Pterodaktylus (pterodactyl)

Now click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear a native speaker pronounce three German words in the middle of which the letter 'p' appears as part of a consonant cluster. The words themselves are supplied in the box below along with an English translation:

Sounds 3: 'p' + consonant in medial position Lampe (lamp)    Tempel (temple) Waspe (wasp)

Now click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear four German words in which the letter 'p' appears as part of a consonant cluster at the end of a word. The words themselves are supplied in the box below along with an English translation.

Sounds 4: 'p' + consonant in final position Haupt (head)    klappt (functions) Schnaps (schnaps)    Schlips (tie)

The German 'ph' sound 

As in English, the letters 'ph' are pronounced as an /f/ phoneme in German. In fact, many words that originally contained the letters 'ph' have now been Germanified such that they are now spelled with an 'f'. You would now write Telefon, for example, rather than Telephon, and Fotografie rather than Photographie. Even after the recent German spelling reforms however, a number of 'ph' words remain, sometimes as the sole acceptable spelling of a lexical item, sometimes as an accepted variant to the spelling with 'f'. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear the correct pronunciation of four words with the /ph/ spelling:

Sounds 5: The German 'ph' consonant cluster Philosophie (philosophy)    Phrase (phrase) Physik (physics)    Phonetik (phonetics)

 How to pronounce the German 'pf' sound

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