Pronunciation - ich-and-ach - Listening Exercises

Core Rules

Hard ch [x] follows dark vowels: a, o, u, au. Everything else uses soft ch [ç].

In detail: Soft ch [ç] follows bright vowels and umlauts: i, e, ä, ö, ü, ie, ei, eu and y.

  • "ch" after consonants are always [ç].
    Milch → [ç]
    Furche → [ç]
    Kirche → [ç]
  • Words starting with “ch” also usually use the soft [ç]:
    Chemie → [ç]
    Chirurg → [ç]
    China → [ç] (regionally also [k] or [ʃ])
  • Notable exceptions to these rules include:
    Chemnitz → [k]
    Chor → [k]
    Macho → [tʃ]
    Chef → [ʃ]


Listening Exercise

Listen to the pronunciation of the following minimal pairs. Can you hear the difference between ich [ç] and ach [x] already? The audio is below the list of words.

[x] [ç] Translation 01 Translation 02
Dachdichtrooftight
fachtfichtincreasehe fenced
krachtkriechtcrashescrawls
lachtlächeltlaughssmiles
machtenmöchtenthey madewould-like
Nachtnichtnightnot
Rachenrächenthroatavenge
sachlichsächlichfactualneuter
schwacherschwächerweakweaker
wachwichawakeevaded

Why don't you practice this a bit more?

Listen to the pronunciation of the following minimal pairs. Can you hear the difference between ich [ç] and ach [x] a bit better now? The audio is again below the list of words.

[x] [ç] Translation 01 Translation 02
brauchtbrichtneedsbreaks
BuchBücherbookbooks
Fluchtenflüchtenescapesto escape
hauchenheuchelnaspirepretend
krochenkröchencrawledwould crawl
LocherLöcherpuncherholes
SchlauchSchläuchehosehoses
SchwuchtelWichtelfaggot (!)gnome
tauchentäuschendivedeceive
TochterTöchterdaughterdaughters