German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "der Ehemann" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce der Ehemann in German?

der Ehemann is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /deːɐ̯ ˈeː.əˌman/. It means “husband (everyday: mein Mann; pl. Ehemänner).” dair AY-uh-man. Two vowels open the word with a silent h between them, then the compound's second half follows.

dair AY-uh-man. Two vowels open the word with a silent h between them, then the compound's second half follows.

der Ehemann /deːɐ̯ ˈeː.əˌman/

The primary beat is on the first element, Ehe-, with Mann taking a secondary stress. That is the standard German compound pattern and it is why the meaning-defining part comes first and loudest — a Hausmann and an Ehemann differ in exactly the syllable that carries the weight.

Listen: der Ehemann

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Sound it out

Eh A long 'ay' with a silent h marking its length, preceded by a glottal catch since the word begins on a vowel.

e An unstressed schwa, which is a separate syllable rather than part of the vowel before it.

mann A short open a with a single n sound, carrying a secondary beat as the second element of the compound.

Hear it in a sentence

Ihr Ehemann ist Arzt.

Her husband is a doctor.

Listen: Ihr Ehemann ist Arzt.

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Ihr Ehemann ist Arzt drops the article before the profession, which German does after sein and werden — ist Arzt, never ist ein Arzt. Arzt itself opens on a glottal catch and ends in a tst cluster, so it is a compact word with a lot of consonant traffic.

Where English speakers slip

Pronouncing the h gives 'ay-huh-man' with a breath in the middle; it is silent between vowels. Learners also shift the stress onto Mann, since that is the part that means man — but German compounds put the weight on the first element, and moving it makes the word sound like two words rather than one.