German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "entspannt" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce entspannt in German?

entspannt is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɛntˈʃpant/. It means “relaxed.” ent-SHPANT. The sp becomes 'shp' even in the middle of the word, because it starts the stem.

ent-SHPANT. The sp becomes 'shp' even in the middle of the word, because it starts the stem.

entspannt /ɛntˈʃpant/

The stem takes the beat and the prefix takes none, which is the invariable behaviour of ent-. It also explains why the participle carries no ge-: an unstressed inseparable prefix does the marking work that ge- would otherwise do.

Listen: entspannt

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Sound it out

ent An unstressed prefix: a short open e and an nt cluster. A light glottal stop precedes it.

sp 'shp'. The rule applies at the start of a stem as well as at the start of a word, and here the stem begins immediately after the prefix.

a Short and open, kept short by the doubled n.

nnt A single n sound plus a fully released t.

Hear it in a sentence

Nach dem Urlaub bin ich entspannt.

After the vacation I'm relaxed.

Listen: Nach dem Urlaub bin ich entspannt.

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Nach dem Urlaub bin ich entspannt fronts a prepositional phrase, which forces bin ahead of ich. Urlaub ends in a devoiced b, coming out 'OOR-lowp', so the sentence contains a hardened b in the middle and a released t at the end.

Where English speakers slip

The 'shp' inside the word is the surprise: learners apply the rule at the start of a word and then abandon it here, producing 'ent-SPANT'. The stem is where it counts, and the stem begins right after ent-. Stressing the prefix is the second error, and German never does that with ent-.