German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "wie viel" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce wie viel in German?

wie viel is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /viː ˈfiːl/. It means “how much.” vee FEEL. Two separate words, and note the switch: wie starts with a v sound while viel starts with an f.

vee FEEL. Two separate words, and note the switch: wie starts with a v sound while viel starts with an f.

wie viel /viː ˈfiːl/

The main beat is on viel, with wie leading into it more lightly. Because both words contain the same long vowel, the stress is what separates them rhythmically — and putting the weight on the second word is what makes the phrase sound like a question rather than a list of two words.

Listen: wie viel

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Sound it out

wie A v plus a long 'ee'. The ie is a single vowel, not two.

v Pronounced f, as German v always is in native words. So the two words begin with different consonants despite looking related.

ie Another long 'ee', the same single vowel as in wie.

l A bright l with the tongue tip forward. German has no dark l of the English full kind.

Hear it in a sentence

Wie viel kostet das?

How much does that cost?

Listen: Wie viel kostet das?

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Wie viel kostet das? has kostet with an inserted helping e, since the stem already ends in t. Das is a demonstrative pronoun here, not an article, and the question follows the usual pattern: question phrase first, verb second, subject third.

Where English speakers slip

Reading viel with an English v gives 'vee veel', which flattens the interesting contrast in this phrase. The w is a v and the v is an f. Modern spelling also separates the two words, where older German wrote wieviel — so writing it as one word is a small but visible slip.