German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "der Koffer" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce der Koffer in German?

der Koffer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /deːɐ̯ ˈkɔ.fɐ/. It means “suitcase (pl. Koffer).” dair KOF-uh. A short rounded o and an -er ending that softens into a dark 'uh'.

dair KOF-uh. A short rounded o and an -er ending that softens into a dark 'uh'.

der Koffer /deːɐ̯ ˈkɔ.fɐ/

Two beats, the first clearly louder. The plural Koffer is identical to the singular, which puts the whole burden of number on the article — der Koffer against die Koffer — so nothing in the noun itself tells you whether you are packing one case or several.

Listen: der Koffer

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Sound it out

K A k followed by a short burst of breath.

o Short and rounded, close to the vowel in British hot. The doubled f keeps it short.

ff Written double, pronounced once. The doubling is a signal about the vowel, not the consonant.

er A dark 'uh' with nothing consonantal in it — non-rhotic English speakers already do this.

Hear it in a sentence

Mein Koffer ist zu schwer.

My suitcase is too heavy.

Listen: Mein Koffer ist zu schwer.

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Mein Koffer ist zu schwer uses zu in its degree sense, meaning too. Schwer opens with sh running into a v and holds a long 'ay' before its vocalised r, so the adjective is considerably harder to produce than the noun it describes.

Where English speakers slip

The o needs genuine lip rounding — English coffer has a flatter vowel — and the ending needs no r at all. Both are small adjustments that recur across Sommer, Zimmer and Nummer, so treating them as a single habit rather than word-by-word corrections saves a good deal of effort.