German vowel sounds: 'ie'  

The German sound that is written as 'ie' is not a diphthong, but is simply a long German /i:/ sound. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear four German words where the letters 'ie' represent a long /i:/ sound.

Sounds 1: German 'ie' as long /i:/ vowel Bier (beer)    viel (much) Stier (bll)    Frieden (peace)

Unlike in English, where the pronunciation of the letters 'ie' and 'ei' can vary, the sounds represented by these spellings remain consistent in German. To practise the distinction between these two sounds, click either here or on the sound icon on the left to listen to four pairs of German words. The first word in each pair contains an 'ei' sound, whereas the second contains 'ie'.

Sounds 2: Distinguishing between 'ei' and 'ie' Wein (wine)    Wien (Vienna) Fleiß (hard work)    fließt (flows) leider (unfortunately)    Lieder (songs) steil (steep)    Stiel (stick)

German 'ie' at the end of a word 

When the letters 'ie' appear at the end of a word, they can be pronounced in two different ways. If the final syllable is stressed, then the letters are pronounced as the long /i:/ vowel outlined above. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear four German words with a stressed final syllable containing 'ie':

Sounds 3: German 'ie' in a stressed final syllable Biographie (biography)    Symphonie (symphony) Akademie (academy)    Philosophie (philosophy)

But when 'ie' appears in an unstressed syllable at the end of a word, then the letters are pronounced as two separate vowel sounds. Click either here or on the sound icon on the left to hear four German words with an unstressed final syllable containing 'ie':

Sounds 4: German 'ie' in an unstressed final syllable Familie (family)    Petersilie (parsley) Folie (film, foil)    Materie (matter)

 Long and short German 'o' vowels

 Print This Page