The German 'pf' sound
Although the German 'pf' sound is written as two letters, it should be articulated as one single sound. It is called an affricate, which means that is made up of an quick explosion at the start of the sound's articulation - the 'p' stage -, immediately followed by a slow fricative closure - the 'f' stage.
This sound is far more common in German than it is in English, where we normally hear it only in compound nouns such as stepfather at the point where one syllable ends and another begins. In German however, it is quite possible to find this sound at the start, middle and end of words. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear eight words featuring the 'pf' sound in a variety of positions.
Sounds 1: The 'pf' affricate sound |
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Pfund
(pound) |
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Pfennig
(pfennig) |
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Pferd
(horse) |
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Pfingsten
(Whitsun) |
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Pfeil
(arrow) |
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Pfirsich
(peach) |
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Kopf
(head) |
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Tropfen
(drop) |
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Care should be taken in distinguishing the 'pf' sound from the German /f/ phoneme. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear three pairs of words which display the difference in pronunciation of these two sounds:
Sounds 2: Distinguishing between 'pf' and 'f' |
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Pfund
(pound) |
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Fund
(discovery) |
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Pfand
(deposit) |
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Fand
(found) |
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Pflug
(plough) |
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Flug
(flight) |
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Finally, try to distinguish between the 'pf' and 'f' sounds within the same word by listening to the following four German words which contain both sounds. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear a native speaker pronounce these words, which are supplied in the box below.
Sounds 3: 'pf' and 'f' sounds in the same word |
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Pfeffer
(pepper) |
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Pfiff
(whistle) |
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Pfeife
(pipe) |
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Pfaffe
(cleric) |
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How to pronounce German 'q'
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