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German · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "schön" in German?
Like the English word shern with the r removed: sch is sh, and the ö is a long front-rounded vowel made by saying 'ay' with pursed lips.
The long ö gives this word real duration despite its brevity. Adjective endings add unstressed syllables without touching it — schöner, schönes, schöne all keep the long ö under the beat, so the word grows without ever changing its rhythmic centre.
Listen: schön
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Was für ein schöner Tag!
What a beautiful day!
Listen: Was für ein schöner Tag!
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Was für ein schöner Tag! uses the was für ein construction for exclamations, and because Tag is masculine and nominative, the adjective takes -er. Tag itself ends in a devoiced g, so it sounds like 'tahk' rather than 'tahg' — a small detail that makes the exclamation land properly.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers substitute the vowel of shirt or shern, which has the right lip shape but an r built into it and the tongue in the wrong place. Others go the opposite way and say 'shone'. Build it from 'ay': sustain the vowel, round the lips, keep the tongue forward. If it drifts toward 'oh', the tongue has slipped back.