German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "der Stift" in German?

dair SHTIFT. At the start of a word st is 'sht', and the vowel is short and lax.

der Stift /deːɐ̯ ʃtɪft/

One short beat, opening on a cluster and closing on another. The plural Stifte adds a schwa, which gives the ft cluster somewhere to release and makes the plural easier to say than the singular — a pattern that recurs across German nouns with heavy codas.

Listen: der Stift

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Sound it out

St 'sht' at the beginning of a word — the s becomes sh, without exception.

i The short, lax i of sit — never the long 'ee' of see.

ft Two consonants with no vowel between them, both clearly pronounced.

Hear it in a sentence

Hast du einen Stift?

Do you have a pen?

Listen: Hast du einen Stift?

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Hast du einen Stift? is a yes-no question, so the verb comes first with no equivalent of English do. Einen marks the pen as masculine accusative, and the question is short enough that the 'sht' at the start of the final word carries real prominence.

Where English speakers slip

Almost everyone starts with a plain st here. Say sh, then t. The English word stiff is a helpful reference for the vowel but a misleading one for the onset, since English never turns s into sh in this position and German always does.