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German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "wann" in German?

VAN. The w is a v, and the doubled n keeps the a short and clipped.

wann /van/

The word takes the opening stress of whatever question it introduces. The vowel length is the thing to control here, because German uses it contrastively: this word is short, while its unrelated near-neighbours are not, and the difference is entirely carried by duration.

Listen: wann

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Sound it out

w A v. Rounding the lips for an English w is the giveaway to avoid.
a Short and open, as in father but cut off. The doubled consonant behind it guarantees the shortness.
nn Written double, said once — a single n.

Hear it in a sentence

Wann kommst du zurück?

When are you coming back?

Listen: Wann kommst du zurück?

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Wann kommst du zurück? sends the separable prefix zurück to the end of the question, where it takes a secondary stress on its own second syllable, RÜCK. So the question opens on a stressed question word and closes on a stressed prefix, with the subject and verb sandwiched lightly between.

Where English speakers slip

The confusion to head off is wann versus wenn. Wann asks a question — when? — while wenn introduces a condition, meaning if or whenever. They differ only in the vowel, a short a against a short e, and English speakers who blur German vowels end up asking questions where they meant to set conditions.