German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "spät" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce spät in German?

spät is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʃpɛːt/. It means “late.” SHPAYT. At the start of a word sp is always 'shp', and the ä is a long, open 'ay'.

SHPAYT. At the start of a word sp is always 'shp', and the ä is a long, open 'ay'.

spät /ʃpɛːt/

Duration, not placement, is what this word asks of you. The comparative später simply adds an unstressed -er ending with no change to the vowel, so the rhythm of the word doubles in length without the stress ever leaving that long ä — which is the ordinary German pattern for adverb comparison.

Listen: spät

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Sound it out

sp 'shp' at the beginning of a word. The s becomes sh, without exception in standard German.

ä A long, open vowel between the 'ay' of day and the 'e' of bed. Many speakers merge it with a plain long e, but the more open version is the careful pronunciation.

t A clear t with audible aspiration at the end of the word.

Hear it in a sentence

Es ist schon spät.

It's already late.

Listen: Es ist schon spät.

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Es ist schon spät contains an instructive pair: ist ends in a plain st, and spät begins with a 'shp'. The two sit almost side by side, which makes it obvious that the rule is positional — it applies at the start of a word, not wherever the letters happen to appear.

Where English speakers slip

The commonest first attempt keeps a plain sp and gives 'spayt', which is the reading every English speaker starts with. Say sh, then p. The vowel is the second matter: the umlaut on the a does not make it 'ah' with decoration but changes it to a front vowel entirely, close to the sound in English air.