German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "müde" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce müde in German?

müde is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈmyː.də/. It means “tired.” MUE-duh. A long front-rounded ü and a soft schwa at the end.

MUE-duh. A long front-rounded ü and a soft schwa at the end.

müde /ˈmyː.də/

Say MÜ-de as two beats, heavy then light, with the long vowel taking almost all the duration. The single d between the vowels is the spelling clue for that length — had the word been written müdde, the ü would be short. Adjective endings add another unstressed syllable without touching the balance.

Listen: müde

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Sound it out

m An m made with both lips, voiced throughout.

ü Long and front-rounded. Hold a long 'ee', keep the tongue exactly there, and round the lips. The single consonant after it is what makes it long.

d Fully voiced, since it opens the second syllable rather than ending the word.

e An unstressed schwa, quiet but definitely present.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich bin sehr müde.

I'm very tired.

Listen: Ich bin sehr müde.

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Ich bin sehr müde uses sehr as an intensifier, and its own vowel is a long 'ay' with the r dissolving into 'uh'. Both sehr and müde therefore end on a vowel rather than a consonant, which gives the sentence a soft, trailing finish that suits what it is saying.

Where English speakers slip

'MOO-day' is the standard first attempt, and it gets both vowels wrong: the ü loses its forward tongue position and the schwa becomes a full 'ay'. Fix the ü by starting from 'ee' and rounding, and let the ending be a genuinely colourless 'uh'. German final -e is never the 'ay' that Italian or Spanish habits might suggest.