German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "schreiben" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce schreiben in German?

schreiben is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈʃʁaɪ̯.bn̩/. It means “to write.” SHRY-bn. sch is sh, then a throaty r, then the 'eye' diphthong.

SHRY-bn. sch is sh, then a throaty r, then the 'eye' diphthong.

schreiben /ˈʃʁaɪ̯.bn̩/

Weight on the diphthong in the first syllable. The past forms schrieb and geschrieben swap it for a long 'ee' without moving the beat, which is the standard behaviour of this strong-verb class — a change of vowel colour with the rhythm untouched.

Listen: schreiben

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Sound it out

schr A three-part onset: sh, then the uvular r, then straight into the vowel. English has shr in shrimp, but with an English r — the German version puts the friction at the back of the throat.

ei The diphthong of pine. Reading it as 'ee' is the commonest German vowel error there is.

b Fully voiced, because it opens a syllable rather than closing the word.

en Reduces to a syllabic n: the vowel disappears and the n becomes the whole syllable.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich schreibe dir eine E-Mail.

I'm writing you an email.

Listen: Ich schreibe dir eine E-Mail.

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Ich schreibe dir eine E-Mail puts dir in the dative as the recipient and eine E-Mail in the accusative as the thing sent. E-Mail is one of the few borrowings German pronounces more or less as English does, so the E is a long 'ee' and the word keeps its original stress.

Where English speakers slip

The cluster itself is manageable for English speakers, since shr exists in shrimp — the difficulty is that the r underneath is the wrong kind, made in the middle of the mouth rather than at the back. Move it back and the cluster falls into place. Then guard the diphthong: reading ei as 'ee' gives 'shreeben', which is the recurring vowel error in a new disguise.