German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "krank" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce krank in German?

krank is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kʁaŋk/. It means “ill / sick.” KRANK. A throaty r right after the k, a short a, and the n turning into 'ng' before the final k.

KRANK. A throaty r right after the k, a short a, and the n turning into 'ng' before the final k.

krank /kʁaŋk/

One beat, opening and closing on velar sounds with the vowel squeezed between them. The comparative kränker fronts the vowel to ä and adds an unstressed ending, and as with jung the ng stays a single nasal throughout — no hard g creeps in.

Listen: krank

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Sound it out

kr A k followed immediately by the uvular r. The pairing is awkward at first because both are made at the back of the mouth.

a Open and brief — the a of father with the length removed.

nk The n assimilates to the k and becomes 'ng', exactly as English does in bank.

Hear it in a sentence

Mein Sohn ist krank.

My son is sick.

Listen: Mein Sohn ist krank.

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Mein Sohn ist krank has Sohn showing three German habits in one syllable: the s is voiced like a z, the o is long, and the h is a silent length marker. So it comes out 'zohn'. The adjective then stays bare after ist, with nothing softening its consonant cluster.

Where English speakers slip

The kr cluster is where English accents show, because the English r is made in the middle of the mouth and clashes with the k in front of it. Moving the r to the back actually makes the cluster easier, since both sounds then happen in nearly the same place. The vowel is straightforward — the English word crank has almost the right one.