German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "wollen" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce wollen in German?

wollen is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ˈvɔ.lən/. It means “to want.” VOLL-en. The w is a v, the o is short and open, and the l stays bright and forward.

VOLL-en. The w is a v, the o is short and open, and the l stays bright and forward.

wollen /ˈvɔ.lən/

Stress on WOL- throughout the paradigm. As a modal it usually sits in second position with its infinitive pushed to the end of the sentence, so the rhythm of a wollen sentence is heavy near the front and heavy again at the very back, with everything in between passing through lightly.

Listen: wollen

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Sound it out

w A v. Rounding the lips for an English w is the giveaway to avoid.

o Short and open, close to the vowel in British hot. The doubled l keeps it short.

ll One light l with the tongue tip on the ridge behind the teeth — never the hollow, dark l English uses in full or wool.

en An unstressed ending, reducing toward a syllabic n in ordinary speech.

Hear it in a sentence

Ich will ein Eis.

I want an ice cream.

Listen: Ich will ein Eis.

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Ich will ein Eis contains one of the great false friends: will here is the ich form of wollen and means want, not future tense. Eis begins on the 'eye' diphthong with a small glottal catch, and the ein before it stays endingless because Eis is neuter.

Where English speakers slip

The meaning trap outweighs the sound trap: English speakers read ich will as 'I will' and completely misread the sentence. It means I want. On the sound side, the l is the tell — English speakers darken it, hollowing out the o in front, when German keeps both bright and forward. And the w, as always, is a v.