German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "das Leben" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce das Leben in German?

das Leben is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /das ˈleː.bn̩/. It means “life (pl. Leben).” dass LAY-bn. A long 'ay' and an ending that collapses onto the n.

dass LAY-bn. A long 'ay' and an ending that collapses onto the n.

das Leben /das ˈleː.bn̩/

LE- is loud and the ending collapses onto the n. This noun is simply the infinitive leben with a capital letter, which is a productive German pattern — any verb can become a neuter noun this way — and the stress and vowels stay exactly as they were in the verb.

Listen: das Leben

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Sound it out

L A clear, forward l — the l of leaf, never the hollow one in ball.

e A long 'ay', stretched by the open syllable Le-.

b Voiced throughout — devoicing strikes only at the end of a syllable, and this is a beginning.

en Reduced to a syllabic n, so the ending is a single nasal hum after the b.

Hear it in a sentence

Das Leben ist schön.

Life is beautiful.

Listen: Das Leben ist schön.

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Das Leben ist schön ends on schön with its long front-rounded ö, so the sentence pairs a long back-of-mouth 'ay' at the start with a long rounded front vowel at the end. Both are held, which gives the whole statement an unhurried, declarative rhythm.

Where English speakers slip

Shortening the e gives 'LEB-en', which is the reading an English eye supplies from words like level. The syllable is open, so the vowel is long. The other habit is giving -en a full vowel; German lets the n take over the syllable, which compresses the word to two clean beats.