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German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "lesen" in German?
LAY-zn. A long 'ay' and a single s between vowels, which buzzes like a z.
LE- takes the weight, and the du and er forms lengthen the vowel differently while keeping the beat: du liest and er liest both have a long 'ee' where the infinitive has 'ay'. The stress never moves, so the ear can rely on the rhythm even when the vowel is unrecognisable.
Listen: lesen
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Hear it in a sentence
Ich lese jeden Abend.
I read every evening.
Listen: Ich lese jeden Abend.
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Ich lese jeden Abend uses the accusative jeden with no preposition at all, which is how German marks a recurring point in time. Jeden begins with a y sound, and Abend opens with a glottal stop, holds a long a, and hardens its final d to a t.
Where English speakers slip
An English hiss on the s gives 'LAY-sen', which is the reflex English readers bring to a vowel-s-vowel pattern. German voices it. It is also worth separating this verb from its own conjugation early, because the leap from lese to liest looks like a different word — the long 'ee' in liest is the same rule that makes ie long everywhere else.