German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "die Familie" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce die Familie in German?

die Familie is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /diː faˈmiː.li̯ə/. It means “family (pl. Familien).” dee fa-MEE-lee-uh. The stress is on the second syllable, and the word ends in 'lee-uh' rather than a simple 'lee'.

dee fa-MEE-lee-uh. The stress is on the second syllable, and the word ends in 'lee-uh' rather than a simple 'lee'.

die Familie /diː faˈmiː.li̯ə/

Second syllable, following the Latin pattern rather than the German front-stress default. The word sits alongside Person in this chapter as a reminder that borrowings keep their own stress, and that assuming first-syllable stress will occasionally lead you badly astray.

Listen: die Familie

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Sound it out

Fa A short unstressed a after the f.

mi A long 'ee' carrying the main stress.

lie A bright l, then a quick 'ee' glide, then a schwa. Four syllables in total, where English manages with three.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich liebe meine Familie.

I love my family.

Listen: Ich liebe meine Familie.

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Ich liebe meine Familie puts two long 'ee' vowels close together, in liebe and in the stressed syllable of Familie. Meine takes the feminine accusative ending, which happens to look identical to the nominative, so nothing visibly changes despite the noun being the object.

Where English speakers slip

English family has three syllables with the beat at the front; German Familie has four with the beat in the middle. Getting the syllable count wrong is as noticeable as getting the stress wrong. Say fa-MI-li-e slowly, keeping that final schwa audible, and the word arrives in the right shape.