German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "immer" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce immer in German?

immer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈɪ.mɐ/. It means “always.” IM-uh. A glottal catch at the start, a short i, and an -er ending that softens to 'uh'.

IM-uh. A glottal catch at the start, a short i, and an -er ending that softens to 'uh'.

immer /ˈɪ.mɐ/

Volume goes to the first syllable, which is the only one with a real vowel in it. As an adverb of frequency the word usually sits after the verb and takes moderate emphasis — enough that the initial glottal catch is clearly audible, which is one reason it is a good word for practising that feature.

Listen: immer

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Sound it out

i Short and lax, preceded by a light glottal stop since the word begins on a vowel. The doubled m keeps it short.

mm Two letters, one sound. German doubles a consonant to mark the vowel before it as short.

er The r dissolves entirely and the ending becomes a low, neutral vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

Du kommst immer zu spät.

You're always late.

Listen: Du kommst immer zu spät.

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Du kommst immer zu spät puts two adverbial ideas after the verb, and spät is worth pausing on: its sp is pronounced 'shp' because it begins the word, and its ä is long, so it comes out 'SHPAYT'. Zu here means too, in the degree sense.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers run kommst and immer together into one smear, where German inserts a small hard catch before the vowel. That break is subtle but it is the difference between sounding fluent and sounding German. The ending then needs no r at all — just an open 'uh' with the tongue lying flat.