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German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "der Vogel" in German?
dair FOH-gl. German v is f, the o is long, and the -el ending collapses onto a syllabic l.
The long o at the front carries everything and the ending is barely a syllable. The plural Vögel fronts that vowel to a long ö and changes nothing else, so singular and plural differ only in the roundedness and frontness of the stressed vowel.
Listen: der Vogel
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Hear it in a sentence
Der Vogel singt jeden Morgen.
The bird sings every morning.
Listen: Der Vogel singt jeden Morgen.
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Der Vogel singt jeden Morgen has singt with the velar nasal before its t, and jeden Morgen in the bare accusative to express a repeated time. Jeden opens with a y sound, so the sentence has an f where a v is written and a y where a j is written.
Where English speakers slip
The v gets read as an English v by almost everyone at first — it is an f. Then the -el ending draws a full vowel out, giving 'VOH-gel' with three clear beats when German has two. Let the l become the whole second syllable, as it does in Himmel and Apfel.