LingoDrop
German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "der Sohn" in German?
dair ZOHN. The s buzzes like a z, the o is long, and the h is a silent length marker.
The long vowel under the noun's stress does everything. The plural Söhne fronts the vowel to a long ö and adds an unstressed schwa, so the word gains a syllable and swaps a back vowel for a front-rounded one — two changes at once, which makes German plurals of this type worth learning individually.
Listen: der Sohn
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Ihr Sohn ist zwei Jahre alt.
Her son is two years old.
Listen: Ihr Sohn ist zwei Jahre alt.
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Ihr Sohn ist zwei Jahre alt uses Ihr as the possessive meaning her, and Jahre in the plural after the number. Zwei packs three spelling traps into four letters, and the sentence ends on alt with its bright l — a quiet reminder not to darken it.
Where English speakers slip
An unvoiced s gives 'sohn' and pronouncing the h gives a breath in the middle. German buzzes the s and keeps the h silent. The plural is the third thing worth practising: Söhne needs the long front-rounded ö, which is a very different mouth shape from the back o of the singular.