German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "der Junge" in German?

dair YOONG-uh. The j is a y, the ng is a single nasal, and the final e is a schwa.

der Junge /deːɐ̯ ˈjʊ.ŋə/

JUN- is stressed and -ge is not. This noun follows the weak declension, so it adds -n in every case except the nominative singular — den Jungen, dem Jungen — and each of those endings stays unstressed, leaving the rhythm untouched.

Listen: der Junge

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Sound it out

J Say y, as in yellow. This holds for every j in the language.

u Short 'oo' as in put, properly rounded.

ng One velar nasal, as in singer. No separate g is released after it.

e The neutral 'uh' that closes so many German nouns. Say it lightly, but do say it.

Hear it in a sentence

Der Junge lernt viel.

The boy studies a lot.

Listen: Der Junge lernt viel.

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Der Junge lernt viel closes on viel, which is pronounced 'feel' since German v is an f. Lernt has a short open e with the r darkening it, so the sentence moves from a rounded back vowel through a dark one to a long front 'ee'.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers release a hard g after the ng, on the model of finger, and read the j as an English j. Neither belongs: it is a y at the front and a single nasal in the middle. The related adjective jung shares both features, so correcting one word fixes the other.