German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "fünf" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce fünf in German?

fünf is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /fʏnf/. It means “five.” fuenf — an f, a short ü (say 'ih' with rounded lips), then n and another f. There is no 'oo' anywhere in it.

fuenf — an f, a short ü (say 'ih' with rounded lips), then n and another f. There is no 'oo' anywhere in it.

fünf /fʏnf/

Stress is not the question in a word this size; vowel length is, and here the ü is short because two consonants follow it — German spelling is dependable about that. The result is quicker and more clipped than vier or sieben, which is audible the moment you count from one to ten out loud.

Listen: fünf

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Sound it out

f A plain f, top teeth against the bottom lip.

ü The short front-rounded vowel. Set your tongue for the i in sit, then round your lips as if blowing out a candle, and hold both positions simultaneously.

nf Two consonants closing the syllable with no vowel between them. Keep the n short and let the f follow immediately.

Hear it in a sentence

Das kostet fünf Euro.

That costs five euros.

Listen: Das kostet fünf Euro.

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Das kostet fünf Euro keeps Euro singular after the number, which is standard for currency in German — never fünf Euros. Kostet takes an -et ending because the stem already ends in t and needs a helper vowel, and Euro itself opens on the oi diphthong, 'OY-ro'.

Where English speakers slip

'Foonf' is where most beginners land, importing the oo of foot because the lip position feels close enough. The rounding is right; the tongue has to come forward to where it sits for 'ih'. Some then overcorrect into 'finf' with no rounding at all, which is equally wrong — the vowel genuinely requires both gestures at the same instant.