Let's listen carefully: Consonants: "b" or "p"?

die Semperoper in Dresden

"b" at the beginning of a word or a syllable is pronounced similar to the "b" in English "big".

"p" is pronounced like the "p" in English "put".

Click on ► to hear the examples.

Gebäck <-> Gepäck
bellen <-> pellen
Brise <-> Prise
Butzen <-> putzen
Ober <-> Oper
backen <-> packen
Bar <-> Paar
Blech <-> Pech
buhlen <-> pulen
Bach <-> Pacht
Bein <-> Pein
Batzen <-> patzen

Der Ober fragt: „Was möchten Sie trinken?”

And don't worry if you don't know the meaning of most of the words. The aim of this exercise is to practice the difference between "b" and "p". 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.

Now it's your turn.

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

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

bellen <-> pellen
Prise <-> Brise
putzen <-> Butzen
Oper <-> Ober
backen <-> packen
Paar <-> Bar
Gebäck <-> Gepäck
buhlen -> pulen
Bein <-> Pein
Batzen - patzen

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.

other images: (CCO Creative Commons):
https://pixabay.com/en/semper-opera-house-opera-dresden-2662293/
https://pixabay.com/en/people-couple-waiter-table-146963/