German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "das Meer" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce das Meer in German?

das Meer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /das meːɐ̯/. It means “sea (pl. Meere).” dass MAIR, or 'MAY-uh'. German ee is a long 'ay', never the 'ee' of English see.

dass MAIR, or 'MAY-uh'. German ee is a long 'ay', never the 'ee' of English see.

das Meer /das meːɐ̯/

There is only one vowel here to carry the beat, and the doubled e tells you it is long before you have heard it spoken. The plural Meere adds a schwa, which puts the r in front of a vowel and turns it back into a real scraped consonant.

Listen: das Meer

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Sound it out

M An m exactly as in English — one of the few German consonants needing no adjustment.

ee A long 'ay'. The doubled vowel is a length marker, and German ee always has this value — compare Tee, See and leer.

r Vocalised to a neutral 'uh', which is what German r does before a pause or a consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

Im Sommer fahren wir ans Meer.

In summer we go to the sea.

Listen: Im Sommer fahren wir ans Meer.

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Im Sommer fahren wir ans Meer uses two contractions: im for in dem and ans for an das. The accusative in ans marks movement toward the sea, while im with the dative marks the season you are already inside. One sentence, both cases, same pattern.

Where English speakers slip

The doubled e looks like English see or three, so learners produce 'meer' rhyming with the English word mere. German ee is 'ay'. Getting this right once fixes a small family of words at a stroke, since Tee, See, Beet and leer all share the value and all get misread the same way.