Let's listen carefully: Vowels & Umlaute: long "a" or short "a"?

ein Hase

 

"a" followed by one consonant or an unpronounced "h", as well as the double vowel "aa" is generally long. It is pronounced similar to the "a" sound in English "spa", but with a wide-open mouth.

"a" followed by two or more consonants is usually short. It is pronounced similar to the "u" sound in English "Hun".

 

Click on ► to hear the examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"a" followed by one consonant is generally long "a" followed by two or more consonants is usually short
Hase hasse
kam Kamm
Schlaf schlaff
Raten Ratten
Laden Latten
Maße Masse
Nase nasse
jagen Jacken
lasen lassen

the double vowel "aa" is generally long "a" followed by two or more consonants is usually short
Staat Stadt
Saat satt
Aas Ass
Aale alle
Maat matt
Haare harre

"a" followed by an unpronounced "h" is generally long "a" followed by two or more consonants

 is usually short

stahl Stall
Bahn Bann
Wahl Wall
Kahn kann
Ahle alle
Wahn wann
Fahne Pfanne
Sahne sandte
Rahmen rammen

Now it's up to you.

 

Click on and listen carefully to the words which are read out to you. In each case, write the word you hear twice into the gap provided.

 

Then click on [Check] to see if you were correct.

 

 

And don't worry if you don't know the meaning of the words. The aim of this exercise is to practice the long and the short "a". Of course, you can look up the words you don't know in one of the online dictionaries below if you wish to do so.

 

 

Hase <-> hasse Hase
kam <-> Kamm
Schlaf <-> schlaff
raten <-> Ratten
Laden <-> Latten
Maße <-> Masse
Nase <-> nasse
jagen <-> Jacken
lasen <-> lassen
Staat <-> statt
Saat <-> satt
Aas <-> Ass
Aale <-> alle
Maat <-> matt
Haare <-> harre
stahl <-> Stall
Bahn <-> Bann
Wahl <-> Wall
Kahn <-> kann
Ahle <-> alle
Wahn <-> wann
Fahne <-> Pfanne
Sahne <-> sandte
Rahmen <-> rammen

           Umlaute & Eszett:        

 

Wörterbuch (LEO) Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS) Wörterbuch (Linguee) Wörterbuch (dict.cc Wörterbuch (PONS) Terminologie A - Z

 

Tip: If you don't belong to the lucky few who possess a photographic memory, write down what you learnt while doing this exercise.

     

photo: (CO Creative Commons) https://pixabay.com/p-2414356/?no_redirect