The German Consonant: B
The German letter 'b' is pronounced exactly as in English when
it appears at the start or the middle of a word.
Click on the
examples in the table below to hear how words having the letter 'b'
appear at their start and in their middle are pronounced in the German
language.
| Examples with Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Letter 'b' in initial position | ||
| Blume - flower | bald - soon | blau - blue |
| bringen - to bring | Bart - beard | blind - blind |
| Letter 'b' in medial position | ||
| lieben - to love | Silber - silver | glauben - to believe |
| Nebel - fog | bleiben - to stay | Traube - Grape |
However, when the letter 'b' is placed at the end of a word,
it's pronounced as the English letter 'p'.
Click on the
examples in the table below to hear how words ending with the letter 'b'
are pronounced in the German language.
| Examples with Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Letter 'b' in final position | ||
| Kalb - calf | gelb - yellow | Staub - dust |
| halb - half | Korb - basket | taub - deaf |
To summarize, if the letter 'b' appears at the start or in the middle of a word, it's pronounced exactly as its English counterpart. If it appears at the end of a word, it's pronounced a 'p'.