German pronunciation: Vibranten - /ʁ/

Sample pronunciation audio

Start with one sample audio file for vibranten - /ʁ/.

Quick tip

Vibrants are made by vibrating part of the tongue or uvula.

Letters and IPA

Practice words

• rot

• Brot

• bringen

• Frage

• drei

Minimal pairs

• rot / Rott
• Brot / Boot
• bringen / bingen
• Frage / Fahne
• drei / Dei

How to produce this sound

The German 'r' (Zäpfchen-r) is made by vibrating the back of your tongue against the uvula at the back of your mouth, similar to the French 'r' in 'Paris'. It is not like the English 'r' in 'red'.

Common mix-ups

• rot / Rott
• Brot / Boot
• bringen / bingen
• Frage / Fahne
• drei / Dei

Closest comparison

This is a new sound for English speakers. The closest is the French 'r' in 'Paris', but English 'r' as in 'red' is different.