The best unpronounceable German words, part 1 | Meet the Germans
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- From Streichholzschächtelchen to Sonnenblumenkernbrötchen German is known for its long, hard-to-pronounce words. Join Meet the Germans presenter Kate Müser as she tracks down native speakers to help with the pronunciation of Germans' best tongue-twisters.
Every other week, DW's Kate Müser explores the quirks of everyday life and language in Germany. Originally from the United States, Müser has lived in Germany for over 13 years. Follow Meet the Germans on UA-cam or at dw.com/meetthegermans.
Kate, dein Deutsch ist unglaublich gut!
Danke für die Blumen :)
Höchster Respekt von mir. Ich bin mir immer noch nicht wirklich sicher ob ich dir glauben kann das du aus Amerika kommst. Perfekte Aussprache 👍
Vielen Dank! :)
und die heißt einfach ,, kate müser ''
Our exchange partners from france had to say: "das Eichhörnchen sitzt auf dem Streichholzschächtelchen" it was very funny...
Definitely a tongue twister :)
your German is amazing!!!!
Yup, as a German i can't believe that she is not German ;)
She is Born in germany...
Try "Kreuzschlitzschraubenzieher". (Literally: Cross slit screwdriver) ^_^
"Ültje's Würznüsschen" - oops, Schleichwerbung! (and for those interested in the Kreuzschlitz thingie: it's commonly known as Phillips screwdriver)
KreuzschlitzschraubenDREHER
@@freesoftwareextremist8119 Warum denkst du, dass Schraubenzieher falsch ist?
@@magicfriday9390 Ist nicht falsch, nur offiziell heißt es "Dreher". Zollstock heißt Gliedermaßstab, Ampel Lichtzeichenanlage und ein Drehkreuz Personenvereinzelungsanlage.
Do Germans play scrabble?
If we Germans mock about our compound words ourselves we use the example of "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsmütze".
It means the cap of a captain of the steam ship company with ships on the river Danube.
What about "Rindfleischettiketierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetzt"😏
That woman selling the sonnenblumenkernbrötchen is a Bäckereifachverkäuferin 😉
And she just felt very awkward🙃
What is awkward in German in this context?
German is my native language and i do not know the correct word.
@@happygimp0 awkward is sowas wie "seltsam". In dem Kontext aber eher "peinlich berührt"
Btw: SCHLAAAAAAAAND
Well, "sun flower seed bread roll" is not much simpler ...
until now i didn't even realize, that 'schachtel' (box) and its diminutive 'schächtelchen' use the different versions of pronouncing the (first) 'ch'.
This is because the choice of the “ch” depends on which vowel precedes it. The “ch”, as it appears in “acht”, for example, only occurs after “a”, “o” and “u”, in other words, only after the base letters of the umlauts.
Thus the “ch”, as it occurs in “ich”, occurs after “ä”, “e”, “i”, “ö”, “ü” and “y”. It is also used if it occurs at the beginning of a word or after a consonant.
Special rule: The minimisation “-chen” uses only the latter “ch”, regardless of the preceding vowel, which does not apply to all other words that happen to end in “-chen”.
and just to make it clear, the ' 1st _ch_ ' does not refer to the 2nd & 3rd letter of both words, because _sch_ is a term on its own.
Ich würd mir mega verarscht vorkommen, wenn jemand der so natürlich und so gut, akzentfrei Deutsch spricht mich fragen würde, ob ich ihr nicht irgendwelche Worte vorsprechen könnte. Man merkt es einfach gar nicht, dass sie Amerikanerin ist, echt krass.
Aber Zündholzschächtelchen ist doch noch viel schöner als Streichholzschächtelchen :)
Eichhörnchenschwänzchen or in bavarian Oachkoatzlschwoaf
your german is flawless and accent free
Oh, my gosh - your German is truely amazing. I have made almost eveybody I met abroad say "Streichholzschächtelchen" - you honestly don't even sound like you have an accent :)
Thank you! :)
I like "Tschechisches Streichholzschächtelchen" even more :D Even I as a native german Speaker have Problems to say it XD
But my favourite word ist still "Endoplasmatisches Retikulum" ^^
Haha, thanks for watching!
I never found it difficult to say "Quietscheentchen".... nor "555" for that matter. More difficult for me was "macht nichts" because it involves both the 'lower/back' -ch sound and the 'high' -ch sound right after another. Even if you can make these -ch sounds independently, it can be difficult to switch back and forth in close proximity in a sentence.
your pronunciation is incredible
I think people are kind of exagerrating the complexity of those long compound words. For example, the translation of "Sonnenblumenkernbrötchen" is "Sunflower seed bread roll" - which is literally the same words, just with spaces between them. The German word is not complicated, the only difference between German and English in that case is that the Germans leave out some spaces and consider it one word.
Yes, this is completely correct. How does the fact the written form has no spaces between the parts make the *pronunciation* more difficult? It doesn't. What is difficult, though, is the word "übrigens"...
Shes so expressive
Ihr Deutsch ist einfach toll! Aber diese Worte sind schön! Beste Grüße aus Mexiko! Saludos desde México Kate!
Vielen Dank für das positive Feedback! :)
vielen Dank für das Wunderbare Video
Great show, quite fun. Thanks.
Hmmm... Even back when matches had been used more commonly i can not remember i used the word "Streichholzschächtelchen". We just said "Hölzer".
555 .. haha. When I was a kid I thought every american phone number starts with 555. Thanks to the american movies and tv shows ;)
But they do, don't they?`:)
I'm learning German in my secondary school in Britain, and the word for 'Black Forest Gateau' is Schwartzwalderkirschtorte
yum!
*Schwarzwälderkirschtorte :) (You can use ae for ä, if that was your problem)
Um ganz genau zu sein ;-)
I'm German myself, her German is great!
OK, I think I have this right: Hochdruckflüssigkeitschromatographie high pressure liquid chromatography. It is a method of chemical analysis. I learned it many years ago traveling to Germany for my company.
Oh that's a long one!
There to are some one-word-tongue-twister in chemistry: "Chlorknallgas" or "Gaswaschflasche"
liebte das video, ich mag..
Thanks for watching!
look what we have here, its Kate herself. GREAT JOB KATE !!
須田みずほ thanks so much!
German words are actually much easier to pronounce if you can learn how to give space on every word that has been connected all together
Der Klassiker ist ja eigentlich: tschechoslowakisches Streichholzschächtelchen (das verlange ich immer, wenn jemand mein Squirrel für gut ausgesprochen hält)
Is "sunflower seed breadroll" easier?
There's a video of Rhubarb Barbara. Look that one up and weep.
:-D
Eichhörnchen -- das Wort ißt zwar nicht so lang aber wirklich schwierig.
*ist
stimmt -- ißt bedeutet eats und nicht is. Ich habe Deutsch seit langer Zeit, ungefähr 40 Jahren, nur selten gesprochen.
und wenn dann schreibt man es mit doppel ss, nicht mit ß!
Some of these words are only hard when you don't take into consideration phonological assimilation processes. Did you hear how the guy with the number 555 made matters a great deal easier for himself by saying fümfhundertfümmunfümfzig?
Iss wat d'ran. Dea Bärlina sacht:
Fünfhundatfümmunfuffzi(ch).
Manchmal mit und manchal janz ohne "ch" am Ende.
Kate must look at Sonnenblumenkernbrötchen in the bakery the same way my dog looks at a fried chicken on the table. It's right there, right in front of your nose... but you can't get it. At least, not legally.
That's why we Austrians use different terms, like Sonnenblumenweckerl, Zündschachtel, okay the 2nd one is only slightly better. But you get the idea. There's no Brötchen or Schächtelchen within the Austrian language. Thank God, not only are they difficult to pronounce for non-native language speakers, but they also sound terrible.
At 55 I'm still finding English phrases that intreg me.....for example....I digress Express that in German.....I dare ya lol.....love this channel
Man braucht es zwar nicht sehr häufig (eigentlich gar nicht), aber "Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitän" ist auch tricky. Beim Schreiben sollte man an das 3-fach "f" denken
I Would like to click a thousand times " Like", unfortunately I can't. Awaiting impatiently the up-coming reports.
Thanks for your support! :)
Eichhörnchen , this is one of the toughest word i had to learn when i studied german language
For this 100 percent flawless German Frau Müser is speaking the respective shop assistents must have gone "What the heck?".
Particularly words like:"Woat" (Wort). 100 percent accurate local German dialect.
I would go:"Een mal dit hia/da (bitte)".
Please give me one piece of this one here / over there. Works every time.
I do not know why this is: A Berliner would say: Fünfhundatfümm un FUFFZI(CH).
1st time Ü, 2dn time U and the last one "U" and the "z" like the "ts" in "Tsar". The "ch" at the end is barely to hear or gets even complitely ommited.
The North Germans say "twinnich". American English has twenny (instead of twenty). Maybe there was some Low German influence?
Like the word dollar stems from the North German pronounciation of the German word:"Taler" => Low German "Daala".
Thanks Peter!
I think the longest and difficult German word I have seen is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
Kein Stück von einem Akzent zu hören. Dass deutsch nicht deine Muttersprache ist, kannst du mir doch nicht erzählen!
Sie spricht ziemlich gut, aber man hört schon einen Akzent, wenn man genau aufpasst.
I find the '-uh' sound and the 'R' sound hard in german. As an English speaker getting a prober guttural 'R' is hard
I agree!
You can just use a tongue r without rolling it quite as much as in English. Numerous dialects use a rolling r
anzunden is to ignite something.
Move to Bavaria, instead of Brötchen we say Semmeln. You can also ditch the "Kern" and just call it Sonnenblumensemmeln
fünfhunderdfümfunfümfzi'
thats how i say it
i just get more clumsy to the end
(note: im a german native lol, maybe its just that im from north germany)
Very nice.
Thanks for watching!
Hi Kate,
I'm german and I like your videos. What is most funny to me is that your english sounds very german to me! So if you where a German talking english. If I wouldn't know better I would bet you are German! ha ha. Did your english accent changed over the years in Germany? Or did you do a special training? Or is this a typical english accent or 'no accent" where you originally came from?
Kevin
Thanks for your positive feedback Kevin! I'm originally from California but have lived in Germany for over 13 years. My theory is that the trace of a German accent came from teaching English to Germans many years ago... but who knows! Best wishes.
hi Kate, are you also a German descendant?
Like many other Americans, my German ancestry dates back some 250 years and has nothing to do with me speaking German or being in Germany. My last name is from my German husband.
Kate Müser thanks Kate. I really like your video and sometimes I watched it together with my German workmate at work during our lunch break. it's so much interesting of your video. Greetings from Melbourne Australia and hope to see more of your videos!
Glad to hear it! :) Best wishes from Germany to you and your co-worker.
Schächtelchen? This is what most people don't know about Germans. We are the world champions of making things more complicated than necessary.
That thing is called Streichholzschachtel.
Thank you for your amusing comment. Goethe made a similar observation.
My pleasure
The "en" in "Sonnenblum'en'kernbrötchen" is silent ;)
nur im Dialekt
welche stadt ist das?? es sieht schön aus !!
Wir waren in Bonn.
I agree, she has a very good German. Given by the surname I reckon she is married to a Gernan aswell.
It's true :)
ach du sind einfach semmeln :D
Stimmt! Das Wort ist einfacher - kommt nur nicht überall so gut an :)
Welcome to Austria. ;)
Semmeln jips übahaupt ni. Dit heißt Schrippn!
Where has this footage been taken?
In Bonn
SONNENBLUMENKERNBRÖTCHEN
Try 555 in French!
Joachim Pense also a tongue-twister :)
Lieber nicht Joachim Pense!
Try to pronounce this word: Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
Liebe Kate, wieso ist es für dich schwierig, das "ö" in Brötchen auszusprechen? Den gleichen Laut gibt es doch im Englischen auch, nur eben nicht als ö geschrieben, sondern als "u", wie in turn und als "ea" wie in learn. Vielleicht solltest du einfach nach Süddeutschland umziehen, dann bekommst du das gleiche Gebäck als Semmel.
It is weird to compliment native speakers on their pronunciation, don't you think?
Wie lange bist du schon in Deutschland?! Dein Deutsch ist besser als meins und ich bin gebürtiger Deutscher 😂 👍👍👍
Thanks God, it's easy for me to pronounce german words …
Oachkatzlschwoaf 😅👍
O come on, German is so easy that even little kids speak it here. ;)btw, could "Gerüchteküche" make it on your list of words, or is this too easy?
Nice suggestion, thank you.
Great suggestion! That's a tough one too :)
Was sie bloß immer an dem Streichholzschächtelchen finden ??? Diejenigen, die kein Feuerzeug haben, benutzen wohl eher Streichhölzer ! Das Schächtelchen ist was für alte Tanten von 1910.
How do Germans remember so many long words? I imagine they would be worn out and steeling themselves for their next foray into their marathon vocabulary.
Mark Twain wrote:
Of course when one of these grand mountain ranges goes stretching across
the printed page, it adorns and ennobles that literary landscape but at
the same time it is a great distress to the new student, for it blocks up
his way;
- - That Awful German Language, Appendix D of A Tramp Abroad
Chlorfluorkohlenwasserstoff
Ouch!
watching this as a german xDDD ^^
No trouble for you! :)
Long words are not the most difficult part of german, unfortunately
It's kinda funny/sad how Germans are the only ones watching this...
Quasselstrippe = blabbermouth
Kachelofen
Streckengeschwindigkeit.
Good one!
tiefkühltruhe
tschechisches Streichholzschächtelchen
Love that kid: thought bubble, god another clueless American who think rubber duck is hard!
Das ist gutes Brot
Lets get married. If you say NO, I will ask out the one working in the bakery!
If I saw you speaking german I couldn't tell that you were american. You almost have no accent at all
Thanks! :)
Kein normaler Mensch sagt Streichholzschächtelchen. 🙈
Das ist hoechst langweilig.
555
More Kate please 😉