German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "hier" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce hier in German?

hier is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /hiːɐ̯/. It means “here.” HEER, or more exactly 'HEE-uh'. A breathed h, a long 'ee' from ie, and an r that melts into a vowel.

HEER, or more exactly 'HEE-uh'. A breathed h, a long 'ee' from ie, and an r that melts into a vowel.

hier /hiːɐ̯/

The long vowel does all the work here. When hier opens a sentence it takes real emphasis and forces the verb into second position, which is a rhythmic consequence of a grammatical rule — putting a word first in German always costs the subject its usual place.

Listen: hier

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Sound it out

h A real, breathed h. Word-initial h is always pronounced in German.

ie A single long 'ee'. The two letters are one vowel, not two sounds.

r Vocalised at the end of the syllable into a dark 'uh', so the word ends on a two-part vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

Hier ist mein Ticket.

Here is my ticket.

Listen: Hier ist mein Ticket.

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Hier ist mein Ticket demonstrates exactly that inversion: because hier comes first, the verb ist must follow immediately and the subject waits until third. Ticket is a borrowing that keeps close to its English shape, though the German t is more crisply released than an English one would be.

Where English speakers slip

American speakers curl the tongue for the r and produce something like 'here' with full r-colouring; German dissolves it into a vowel instead. Non-rhotic English speakers are much closer already, since their pronunciation of here is nearly the target. The other check is the ie, which is a long 'ee' and never the 'eye' of hire.