German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "die Angst" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce die Angst in German?

die Angst is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /diː aŋst/. It means “fear (Angst haben = to be afraid).” dee ANGST. A glottal catch, an open 'ah', the ng as a single nasal, and a plain st at the end.

dee ANGST. A glottal catch, an open 'ah', the ng as a single nasal, and a plain st at the end.

die Angst /diː aŋst/

The word is one syllable, and almost all of it is consonant — a single short vowel followed by three sounds. The plural Ängste fronts the vowel to a short ä and adds a schwa, which finally gives the cluster a following vowel and makes the plural easier to say.

Listen: die Angst

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Sound it out

A Short and open, as in father, preceded by a light glottal stop.

ng One velar nasal, as in singer. No separate g is released.

st A plain s plus t. This is the end of the word, not the start of a stem, so the 'sht' rule does not apply.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich habe Angst vor Hunden.

I'm afraid of dogs.

Listen: Ich habe Angst vor Hunden.

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Ich habe Angst vor Hunden uses the idiom Angst haben: German has fear rather than being afraid, which is why there is no adjective in the sentence. Vor takes the dative, giving Hunden with its dative plural -n, and no article appears before Angst at all.

Where English speakers slip

English has borrowed this word but changed it — English angst has a fronted vowel and often an audible g. German wants an open 'ah', a single nasal, and a plain st. The idiom is the bigger lesson though: Ich bin Angst is not German, and the construction has to be learned as Angst haben.