How to Pronounce the German Ch

The German ch sound is crucial, yet its pronunciation can be difficult for many learners. This is due to the fact that how you say ch depends mostly on the letters around it.

The two main ways to pronounce ch are called the “soft ch ” and the “hard ch .” Here is a brief overview of how each one functions.

How to Pronounce the Soft Ch

As the name implies, the soft ch is the milder of the two sounds. It's also called the front ch , since the sound is mainly produced at the front of your mouth.

You will use and hear the soft ch when it comes after the German vowels i, e, ö, ä, ü or eu , or when it follows any consonant (including ß) other than s .

In linguistic terminology, the soft ch is a voiceless palatal fricative . Palatal indicates that your tongue should touch the roof of your mouth when making the sound. Fricative means you create a narrow passage for air between your palate and tongue. Voiceless means your vocal cords do not vibrate.

So how is the sound made? It closely resembles the h- sound in the English word “huge.” It's somewhat like the sound of a cat hissing!

Practice with these words that feature the soft ch :

• Ich – I
• Milch – milk
• Bücher – books
• sprechen – to speak
• vielleicht – maybe
• Mädchen – maiden, girl
• gleich – same

Keep in mind that in standard German, the soft ch is not a shushing sh sound! That pronunciation only occurs when ch follows s directly, as in sch. A good example is the word Schokolade (chocolate).

That said, in some areas, like the Rhineland, the soft ch is frequently said as sh . In practice, you would likely still be understood if you used sh for the soft ch . But it is advisable to learn the standard pronunciation first before exploring regional variations.

How to Pronounce the Hard Ch

The hard ch is employed when ch comes after a, o, u or au (also called the “dark vowels”), and also when s comes right after ch in a single-syllable word.

Linguistically, the hard ch is a voiceless uvular (velar) fricative . Once more, your vocal cords remain still, and your tongue makes contact with the top of your mouth. Uvular means the back of your tongue moves towards the uvula (the small, dangling tissue at the back of your throat).

The sound is guttural and sharp. More effort comes from the back of the throat–picture clearing your throat. The front of your tongue will usually rest just behind your front teeth. Due to its articulation, the hard ch is also referred to as back ch .

The hard ch is occasionally likened to the English kh sound, but remember, the ch is more of a hiss and the c is not sharply pronounced. A near equivalent is the ch in the Scottish word “loch,” meaning a lake.

However, if a single s follows the ch , then it sounds closer to a k . This is evident in the final two examples listed below.

Here are some words that use the hard ch :

• nach – after
• Tochter – daughter
• Buch – book
• Rauch – smoke
• lachen – to laugh
• Bach – brook
• sechs – six
• Fuchs – fox

When Ch Is at the Beginning of the Word

You might have observed that ch usually appears in the middle or at the end of a word. So what happens when it starts a word?

Few native German words actually begin with ch . Typically, words that do are borrowed from other languages. The pronunciation is determined by the letter that follows ch .

If ch is followed by a , o , r or l , a hard k sound (different from the hard ch ) is generally used, as in these examples:

• Charakter – character
• Chronik – chronic
• Chor – choir

If ch is followed by e or i , then the soft ch is usually applied.

• Chemie – chemistry
• China – China

It is also quite common to hear the two words above pronounced with a sh- or even a -k sound at the start, varying by region. So “shee-nah” or “kee-na” for China .

Furthermore, some loanwords can keep pronunciations in German that are similar to their original language. For instance, the word Chef comes from French, and in both French and German it’s pronounced scheff .

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Being one of the most distinctive features of German pronunciation, the German ch is something you ought to begin practicing right away!