German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "gern" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce gern in German?

gern is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɡɛʁn/. It means “gladly / to like doing.” GERN. A hard g, a short open e coloured by the throaty r behind it, and a closing n.

GERN. A hard g, a short open e coloured by the throaty r behind it, and a closing n.

gern /ɡɛʁn/

This word carries a great deal of meaning for its size — it is how German expresses liking to do something, since there is no verb for that idea. It usually sits just after the verb and takes moderate emphasis, and its longer variant gerne simply adds an unstressed schwa without changing anything.

Listen: gern

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Sound it out

g The g of go, whatever vowel comes after it.

e The vowel in bed, said quickly and with no glide at the end.

r The uvular r before a consonant, where it darkens the vowel and blends into it rather than sounding separately.

n An n to finish, tongue firmly on the ridge behind the teeth.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich koche gern.

I like cooking.

Listen: Ich koche gern.

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Ich koche gern places the adverb after the verb, which is where it belongs, and the sentence literally reads 'I cook gladly'. Koche has the throaty ach-laut, since ch follows the back vowel o, and ends in a schwa — so the adverb arrives right after a back-of-throat sound.

Where English speakers slip

English earn and learn supply a central vowel with an r fused into it, and that blur is what learners produce. German keeps a distinct short open e first, with the r arriving afterwards as a back-of-throat colouring. Do not curl the tongue at any point. And remember there is no verb to reach for here — gern is the whole mechanism.