German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "das" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce das in German?

das is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /das/. It means “that / the (neuter).” DASS, with a short open a and a hissing s — identical in sound to the conjunction dass, which is spelled differently but pronounced the same.

DASS, with a short open a and a hissing s — identical in sound to the conjunction dass, which is spelled differently but pronounced the same.

das /das/

Used as an article it is unstressed and leans on the noun. Used as a demonstrative pronoun, as here, it takes the beat and often a small lengthening for emphasis: DAS ist mein Platz, said while pointing, is rhythmically a different word from das Buch, where you barely notice it.

Listen: das

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Sound it out

d A quick, clean d with the tongue on the ridge behind the top teeth.

a Short and open, as in father but cut off. Function words like this keep their vowels short and crisp.

s Unvoiced at the end of the word — a hiss, never a buzz.

Hear it in a sentence

Das ist mein Platz.

That's my seat.

Listen: Das ist mein Platz.

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Das ist mein Platz uses das as a standalone pronoun meaning that, not as an article — and one of German's neatest simplifications is that this pointing das stays das regardless of the gender of what it refers to. Platz ends in the ts of z, so the sentence closes on a sharp cluster.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers stretch the a into 'dahss' because a single vowel letter in an open-looking word invites lengthening. German keeps it short. There is also a spelling anxiety worth defusing early: das and dass sound exactly alike, and the choice between them is purely grammatical — one s for the article and pronoun, two for the conjunction.