LingoDrop
German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "der Saft" in German?
dair ZAFT. The s buzzes like a z and the a is short and open.
One short vowel between two consonant clusters. The plural Säfte fronts the vowel to a short ä and adds an unstressed schwa, so both the vowel colour and the syllable count change — which is why German plurals often sound less like their singulars than English ones do.
Listen: der Saft
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Zwei Säfte, bitte!
Two juices, please!
Listen: Zwei Säfte, bitte!
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Zwei Säfte, bitte! is how you order at a counter: the number, the plural noun, and the polite tag, with no verb at all. Säfte shows the umlaut plural in action, and zwei packs a 'ts', a v and an 'eye' diphthong into four letters.
Where English speakers slip
Hissing the s gives 'saft', which sounds like an English word and loses the buzz German requires before a vowel at the start of a word. The plural is the other thing worth drilling, since Säfte needs a front vowel that the singular gives no hint of — 'ZEF-tuh' rather than anything resembling 'zafts'.