German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "jetzt" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce jetzt in German?

jetzt is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /jɛtst/. It means “now.” YETST. The j is a y, and tzt is three consonant sounds in a row: t, then s, then t.

YETST. The j is a y, and tzt is three consonant sounds in a row: t, then s, then t.

jetzt /jɛtst/

A single beat crammed with consonants. Because the word is an adverb of time it usually sits in the middle of a sentence and takes moderate stress, but the cluster at the end means it never quite fades — even unstressed, the ts-t sequence is audible.

Listen: jetzt

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Sound it out

j The consonant y of yes. German j never sounds like the j of jam.

e A brief open e, close to the vowel in French mère but shorter.

tzt First a 'ts', then a separate t. Three obstruent sounds close the word with no vowel to break them up, which is what makes it feel so compressed.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich muss jetzt gehen.

I have to go now.

Listen: Ich muss jetzt gehen.

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Ich muss jetzt gehen is a standard modal sentence: the modal takes second position and the infinitive goes to the very end, with the time word slotted between them. Gehen has its silent h and two syllables, so the sentence ends softly after the hard cluster in the middle.

Where English speakers slip

The cluster gets simplified — learners say 'yets' or 'yet', dropping one of the two t sounds. Slow it right down and produce all three: t, s, t. The initial j is the other correction, and it is the same one that applies to ja, Jahr and jung, so getting it right here reinforces a whole family of words.