German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "ist" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce ist in German?

ist is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɪst/. It means “is (3rd person singular of sein).” IST, with the vowel of sit and a plain st. It is not 'isht', because the sh rule applies only when st begins a word.

IST, with the vowel of sit and a plain st. It is not 'isht', because the sh rule applies only when st begins a word.

ist /ɪst/

The verb sits in second position, where German grammar demands it, but rhythmically it is usually a stepping stone rather than a destination — the beat lands on whatever new information follows. Only in an argument about the facts, Es IST so, does the copula grab the stress for itself.

Listen: ist

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Sound it out

i The short, lax vowel of sit.

st A plain s followed by t. German turns st into 'sht' only at the start of a word or word-stem; here it closes the word, so both letters keep their ordinary values.

Hear it in a sentence

Sie ist meine Schwester.

She is my sister.

Listen: Sie ist meine Schwester.

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Sie ist meine Schwester puts the verb second and the predicate noun after it, and Schwester is a small pronunciation lesson in itself: sch is sh, w is v, and its internal st sits at a syllable boundary rather than a word start, so it stays a plain st. The word comes out 'SHVES-tuh'.

Where English speakers slip

Once learners meet Stuhl and Straße and learn that st is 'sht', they over-apply it and start saying 'isht'. The rule is positional: word-initial st and sp become 'sht' and 'shp', and everywhere else they stay as written. Mispronouncing this particular word is especially conspicuous because it appears in almost every sentence a beginner produces.