Minimal pair · Standard German in Germany; stressed citation forms
German /s/ vs /z//s/ / /z/
Learn to hear the difference between s and z in German words.
Practice these sounds/s/
An unvoiced hiss
Listen for the narrow, hissing sound in the target consonant.
As inreißen
/z/
A voiced buzz
Compare the voiced buzzing sound with the hiss in the other category.
As inreisen
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
Reißen/reisen, weiße/weise and Muße/Muse contrast /s/ and /z/ between vowels. The preceding vowel or diphthong is unchanged within each pair.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
A common trap
Do not generalize this spelling pattern into a rule that every German s is voiced. Position and word context matter.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each wordreißen
/ˈʁaɪsən/tear; ripweiße
/ˈvaɪsə/white, inflectedMuße
/ˈmuːsə/leisureTasse
/ˈtasə/cupKasse
/ˈkasə/checkoutreisen
/ˈʁaɪzən/travelweise
/ˈvaɪzə/wiseMuse
/ˈmuːzə/muse; source of inspirationlesen
/ˈleːzən/to readlösen
/ˈløːzən/to solve or release10 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.