German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "der Löwe" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce der Löwe in German?

der Löwe is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /deːɐ̯ ˈløː.və/. It means “lion (pl. Löwen).” dair LUR-vuh with a long ö — and note that the w in the middle is a v.

dair LUR-vuh with a long ö — and note that the w in the middle is a v.

der Löwe /deːɐ̯ ˈløː.və/

The long ö carries the beat and the ending falls away. This is a weak masculine noun, so it adds -n outside the nominative singular — den Löwen, dem Löwen — and each of those endings is unstressed, leaving the rhythm intact.

Listen: der Löwe

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Sound it out

L The clear l of English lip, kept forward throughout.

ö Long and front-rounded. Start from a long 'ay', hold the tongue, and round the lips. There is no r-colouring in it.

w English v. The rule applies in the middle of a word just as it does at the start.

e A schwa ending: the tongue at rest and the vowel barely coloured at all.

Hear it in a sentence

Der Löwe schläft im Schatten.

The lion sleeps in the shade.

Listen: Der Löwe schläft im Schatten.

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Der Löwe schläft im Schatten pairs two sch words with different clusters: schläft runs sh into l with a long ä behind it, and Schatten has sh followed by a short a and a syllabic-n ending. Im is the compulsory contraction of in and dem.

Where English speakers slip

Two things trip learners: the ö gets replaced by the vowel of English lure or low, and the w gets read as a w because it sits in the middle of the word rather than at the start. Both are wrong. Build the ö from 'ay' with rounding, and make the w a genuine v.