German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "allein" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce allein in German?

allein is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /aˈlaɪ̯n/. It means “alone.” a-LINE. The beat is on the second syllable, and ei is 'eye'.

a-LINE. The beat is on the second syllable, and ei is 'eye'.

allein /aˈlaɪ̯n/

Second syllable, which departs from the German front-stress default. The reason is historical: the word is all plus ein, and the numeral half won the stress contest. Recognising the ein inside it explains the rhythm and makes the placement feel less arbitrary.

Listen: allein

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

a A short unstressed a with a light glottal catch in front of it.

ll One bright, forward l bridging the two syllables.

ein The 'eye' diphthong plus n, carrying the stress. This is the same ein as the article, and it is what pulls the weight to the back of the word.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich bin allein gekommen.

I came alone.

Listen: Ich bin allein gekommen.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Ich bin allein gekommen forms the perfect tense with sein rather than haben, which German requires for verbs of motion. Gekommen carries the unstressed ge- prefix and closes the sentence, so the participle takes the final position where German always parks it.

Where English speakers slip

'AL-lein' is the instinctive reading, which is what the German default would predict and what most learners produce. The weight goes on the second syllable. The diphthong then needs to be a full 'eye' — 'a-LEEN' is the other common attempt, and it is the same ei misreading that recurs throughout the language.