LingoDrop
German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "langweilig" in German?
LANG-vy-likh. Three recognisable parts — lang, weil and -ig — with the beat on the first.
LANG- takes the beat, as in every German compound, so the loudest syllable is at the very front of a four-syllable word. The -ig suffix takes none of it, which means the word's energy falls away steadily from the start to the end.
Listen: langweilig
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Hear it in a sentence
Das Buch ist langweilig.
The book is boring.
Listen: Das Buch ist langweilig.
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Das Buch ist langweilig closes on the adjective with nothing after it, so the soft -ig hiss is fully exposed. Buch supplies the throaty ach-laut just before it, which makes the sentence a neat contrast between the two ch sounds in adjacent words.
Where English speakers slip
Three separate rules apply and learners usually miss at least two: the ng is a single nasal with no hard g, the w is a v, and the -ig ending is a palatal hiss. Take them one at a time. The word also means boring rather than long-lasting, despite the lang inside it.