LingoDrop
German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "falsch" in German?
FALSH. A short open a, a bright l, and sch as a plain sh.
One beat, with three consonant sounds crowded after the vowel. When endings arrive the word gains a syllable but no new stress — falsche and falsches keep the a under the beat and let the ending fall away, which is the universal behaviour of German adjective endings.
Listen: falsch
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Hear it in a sentence
Die Nummer ist falsch.
The number is wrong.
Listen: Die Nummer ist falsch.
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Die Nummer ist falsch has Nummer showing the doubled-consonant rule, a short u followed by a softened -er ending, so it comes out 'NOOM-uh'. The adjective stays bare after ist, so its final sh is fully exposed with nothing following it.
Where English speakers slip
English false is the obvious neighbour and a misleading one: its l is dark, its vowel is a diphthong, and it ends in a voiced z-like s. German wants a bright l, a short clipped a, and a clean sh. Say the English word shush, keep only its sh, and build the German word backwards from there if it helps.