German vowels: long and short 'a' 

The long German 'a' vowel
The long German /a:/ vowel - which can be written 'a', 'aa' or 'ah' - is a central and open vowel which is formed with the tip of the tongue touching the lower front teeth. This means that the tongue is much lower than in the pronunciation of the other German vowels. It equates to the 'a' vowel sound in the English words 'bar' and 'calm'. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear six German words containing this long 'a' vowel:

Sounds 1: The long 'a' vowel klar (clear)    Glas (glass) Jahr (year)    Bahn (railway) Haar (hair)    Aal (eel)

The short German 'a' vowel
The short /a/ vowel - which is only spelled 'a' - is a much more clipped vowel. It is a little like a shorter version of the 'a' vowel in the English word 'man'. This vowel can even tend towards the vowel sound heard in the English word 'but', albeit pronounced in a more open way. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to listen to four German words containing this short vowel sound.

Sounds 2: The short German 'a' vowel Mann (man)    Hand (hand) Bank (bank)    Sack (sack)

Distinguishing between long and short 'a' vowels
To practise the difference between the long and short 'a' vowels, click either here or on the sound icon on the left to listen to four pairs of German words. The first word in each pair contains a long /a:/ phoneme, whereas the second contains a short /a/ sound.

Sounds 3: Distinguishing between long and short 'a' Staat (state)    Stadt (city) kam (came)    Kamm (comb) Frage (question)    Flagge (flag) Kahn (barge)    kann (can)

 Long and short German 'ä' vowels

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