LingoDrop
German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "dann" in German?
DAN, rhyming with the English name Dan. The doubled n keeps the a short.
Expect clear emphasis on this word, because it marks a step in a sequence. When it opens a clause it grabs first position, which pushes the verb ahead of the subject — so the word's prominence and its grammatical effect reinforce each other.
Listen: dann
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Hear it in a sentence
Erst essen wir, dann gehen wir.
First we eat, then we go.
Listen: Erst essen wir, dann gehen wir.
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Erst essen wir, dann gehen wir shows that inversion twice over: both erst and dann occupy first position, so both clauses put the verb before wir. Essen begins with a glottal catch, and the parallel structure makes the word order rule unusually visible.
Where English speakers slip
Three short German words cluster dangerously here: dann means then, denn means because or for, and wann asks when. They differ only in their vowels, and English speakers who approximate German vowels end up producing whichever one their mouth finds easiest. Keep the a short, open and distinctly not an e.