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German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "die Geschichte" in German?
dee guh-SHIKH-tuh. The ge- prefix is an unstressed schwa, sch is sh, and the ch is the soft ich-laut.
The middle syllable takes the beat, since ge- is an unstressed prefix. The word's shape — quiet, loud, quiet — is worth hearing as a unit, because the same pattern governs Geschäft, Gesicht and a large family of ge- nouns that all put the weight on the syllable after the prefix.
Listen: die Geschichte
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Erzähl mir eine Geschichte.
Tell me a story.
Listen: Erzähl mir eine Geschichte.
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Erzähl mir eine Geschichte is an imperative built on erzählen, whose unstressed er- prefix puts the beat on ZÄHL. That verb contains a 'ts' from its z and a long ä, so the sentence has two prefix-plus-root words in a row with the same rhythmic shape.
Where English speakers slip
The word contains sch and ch two letters apart and they are entirely different sounds — sh at the front of the stressed syllable, a palatal hiss at the back of it. Learners merge them into one, usually making both sh. Say 'SHIKH' with a clear change of texture in the middle, and stress the second syllable, not the prefix.