German (Germany) minimal pairs

Minimal pairs: wurde and würde

/u/vs/y/

Hard for speakers of English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Arabic, whose languages have no ü: it comes out as u or as i. Some pairs carry grammar: wurde is “became”, würde is “would”.

The difference. For u the tongue is pulled back, as in “book”; for ü the tongue stays forward, as for “ee”, and only the lips round.

Practice all pairs

9 word pairs

Say both words in each pair. If Tono colors one of them amber or red, that is the sound to work on.

wurde würde Practice
fuhr für Practice
fuhren führen Practice
drucken drücken Practice
Mutter Mütter Practice
Bruder Brüder Practice
Gute Güte Practice
Stuck Stück Practice
Mull Müll Practice

Contrast sentences

Both sounds in one sentence: the real test of whether you can switch between them.

Er fuhr für seinen Bruder nach Berlin. Practice
Es wurde spät, sonst würde ich bleiben. Practice
Bitte hier drücken, nicht drucken. Practice

How to practice minimal pairs

Listen to both words in Tono first, one after the other, until you can hear the difference.
Say the pair slowly and exaggerate the difference. Check that both words come back green.
Say the contrast sentences at normal speed. That is where the mix-up usually comes back.

Step-by-step help with these sounds: How to pronounce German ü and ö

More minimal pairs

English minimal pairs Spanish minimal pairs French minimal pairs