German Vowel Length: How to Tell Long and Short Vowels Apart

In German, the length of a vowel can be the only thing that distinguishes two words: Staat (state) and Stadt (city), Miete (rent) and Mitte (middle), Ofen (oven) and offen (open). Fortunately German spelling marks length much more reliably than English does. Learn to read the signals and you will pronounce new words correctly on sight.

Long and short in pairs

Length and quality

For most vowels, length comes with a change in quality. Long vowels are tense: the tongue is further from the centre and the lips more active. Short vowels are lax and a little more central. This is similar to English beat and bit, pool and pull, so English speakers already have a head start.

Spelling rules for long vowels

1. Doubled vowel: aa, ee, oo are always long: Haar, See, Boot. (There is no doubled i or u.)
2. Vowel + h: a silent h after a vowel marks it as long: Bahn, sehr, ihr, Sohn, Uhr, fühlen.
3. ie is a long [iː]: Liebe, viel, spielen. (Exceptions: vierzig, vierzehn, and Viertel, which have short [ɪ].)
4. Open syllable: a vowel followed by a single consonant and then another vowel is usually long: Name, leben, Blume, Hose.
5. Before ß: usually long: Straße, Fuß, groß.

Spelling rules for short vowels

1. Before a double consonant: Bett, Sonne, kommen, Wasser, Mutter.
2. Before ck and tz, which count as doubled k and z: Stück, Zucker, Katze, jetzt.
3. Before two or more different consonants, usually: Hand, Fisch, Wort, Kind. This is the least reliable rule: Mond, Obst, Buch, Magd and Erde have long vowels.

Length stays with the stem

Once you know a stem's vowel length, it stays the same when endings are added, even if the spelling rule would suggest otherwise: Tag has a long a because of Tage, even though it ends in a consonant. Weg (path) is long; weg (away) is short. Rad (wheel) is long, like Räder.

Frequently asked questions

Are German long vowels just longer versions of short ones?

No. Except for a and ä, long and short vowels also differ in quality: long vowels are tense (closer), short ones lax (more open). Long i [iː] in Miete is like English see; short i [ɪ] in Mitte is like English sit.

How can I tell vowel length from spelling?

A doubled vowel (Boot), a vowel followed by h (Bahn), and ie (Liebe) are long. A vowel followed by a double consonant (Bett, Mitte) or ck or tz is short. A vowel before a single consonant followed by a vowel (Name) is usually long.

Is the vowel before ß long or short?

Usually long. Since the 1996 reform, ß is written after long vowels and diphthongs (Straße, Fuß, heißen) and ss after short vowels (Fluss, muss, Wasser). This makes ß a useful length indicator.

Sources and further reading

• Wiese, R. (1996). The Phonology of German, chapter 2 and 6. Oxford University Press.
• Hall, C. (2003). Modern German Pronunciation (2nd ed.), chapter 2. Manchester University Press.
• Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung (2018). Deutsche Rechtschreibung: Regeln und Wörterverzeichnis, §§ 2–13 on vowel length. Mannheim.

Read More in This Topic

• German Umlauts: How to Pronounce Ä, Ö and Ü
• German Pronunciation for English Speakers: The Complete Sound Guide
• English Vowel Length, Tenseness, and Quality Explained

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