German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "lieben" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce lieben in German?

lieben is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈliː.bn̩/. It means “to love.” LEE-bn. The ie is a long 'ee' and the ending collapses onto the n.

LEE-bn. The ie is a long 'ee' and the ending collapses onto the n.

lieben /ˈliː.bn̩/

LIE- keeps the weight, and this is a regular weak verb, so nothing shifts anywhere in the conjugation — liebst, liebt, geliebt all keep the long vowel exactly where it is. That regularity is worth noticing after the run of strong verbs whose stem vowels keep changing shape.

Listen: lieben

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Sound it out

l A bright, forward l with the tongue tip on the ridge behind the top teeth.

ie A single long 'ee'. Two letters, one vowel.

b Voiced, as any consonant is when it opens rather than closes a syllable.

en Collapses onto the n, giving a b released straight into a hum.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich liebe dich.

I love you.

Listen: Ich liebe dich.

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Ich liebe dich is three words and two ich-lauts: ich and dich rhyme perfectly, both ending in the soft palatal hiss. Dich is the accusative form, because love is something you direct at someone. The phrase is also a good rhythm drill — light, heavy, light.

Where English speakers slip

English darkens l before a consonant and at the end of syllables, and that hollow quality bleeds into the vowel here, giving something like 'luh-EE-ben'. Keep the l bright and the tongue tip forward. A separate check is the ie, which learners occasionally read as a diphthong; it is one long, steady 'ee' with no movement in it.