LingoDrop
German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "das Kaninchen" in German?
dass ka-NEEN-khn. The beat is on the middle syllable, and -chen is always the soft ich-laut.
The middle syllable takes the weight, since the diminutive suffix never does and the first syllable is a mere lead-in. That suffix also fixes the noun's gender: anything ending in -chen is neuter, which is why a rabbit takes das rather than der or die.
Listen: das Kaninchen
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Das Kaninchen hat lange Ohren.
The rabbit has long ears.
Listen: Das Kaninchen hat lange Ohren.
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Das Kaninchen hat lange Ohren gives lange the plural -e ending. Ohren opens with a glottal catch and holds a long o, so there is an audible break between lange and Ohren rather than a glide — one of those small onsets that separates German rhythm from English.
Where English speakers slip
The German default would predict 'KA-ninchen', which German does not do here. Put the beat on the middle syllable. Then keep the -chen soft: learners who have practised the throaty ch in machen and Buch import it into every -chen they meet, but the suffix always takes the front hiss.