German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "das Fenster" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce das Fenster in German?

das Fenster is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /das ˈfɛns.tɐ/. It means “window (pl. Fenster).” dass FEN-stuh. The st in the middle is a plain st, not 'sht', and the -er ending softens to 'uh'.

dass FEN-stuh. The st in the middle is a plain st, not 'sht', and the -er ending softens to 'uh'.

das Fenster /das ˈfɛns.tɐ/

FEN- takes the volume and -ster trails away. The plural Fenster is identical to the singular, so nothing at all changes rhythmically between one window and several — the article does the whole job of marking number, which is worth knowing because the ear gets no help.

Listen: das Fenster

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Sound it out

F A straightforward f with no voicing behind it.

e The clipped vowel of pen, closed off quickly by whatever follows.

nst Three consonants run together. The st here straddles a syllable boundary rather than opening a word, so it stays a plain s plus t.

er The r is absorbed into a low 'uh' and never sounds as a consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

Das Fenster ist offen.

The window is open.

Listen: Das Fenster ist offen.

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Das Fenster ist offen puts a vowel-initial word after a consonant-final one, and German inserts a small glottal catch between ist and offen rather than gliding across. Offen itself collapses its ending onto a syllabic n, so the sentence ends on a hum.

Where English speakers slip

Learners who have absorbed the sht rule over-apply it and say 'FEN-shter'. The rule works only at the start of a word or stem, and here the s closes one syllable while the t opens the next. The ending is the second habit, where an American r replaces what should be a plain dark vowel.