How to Pronounce SP and ST in German
Spot the start of a stem so you say Straße with 'sht' but Fenster and ist with 'st'.
At the start of a word, German sp and st sound like 'shp' and 'sht'. Inside or at the end of a word they stay plain 'sp' and 'st'.
The trick is to find where a stem begins: prefixes and compounds keep the 'sh'.
Tap any word to hear it.
At the start of a word: [ʃp] and [ʃt]
Word-initial sp and st begin with 'sh'. Round your lips for the sh, then go straight into p or t.
- One smooth move: 'sh' flows directly into the p or t.
- Even borrowed words like Sport usually follow this rule.
- Only sp and st: sk, sl, sm, sn stay with plain s.
sp- at the start[ʃp]
'shp', lips rounded for sh
st- at the start[ʃt]
'sht', tongue slides to t
Wir spielen spät am Abend Sport.
We play sports late in the evening.
Die Straße in der Stadt ist lang.
The street in town is long.
At the start of a stem: still [ʃp] and [ʃt]
After a prefix or inside a compound, the next stem still starts with 'shp' or 'sht'. Split the word mentally: ver|stehen, Blei|stift.
after a prefix[ʃt]
prefix + stem that starts with st
second part of a compound[ʃp, ʃt]
each part keeps its own start
the prefix doesn't change sht
Inside or at the end: plain [sp] and [st]
When sp or st sits inside a stem or at its end, say it as in English. This includes the verb ending -st and superlatives.
- ist, bist, du spielst: plain 'st'.
- Superlatives too: am besten, der schönste.
- Northern 's-pitz' and southern 'isht' are dialect, not standard.
st inside or at the end[st]
as in English 'best'
sp inside a stem[sp]
as in English 'wasp'
ge- here is no prefix
start vs middle
shp at start, st at end
Gestern war der Gast am Fenster.
Yesterday the guest was at the window.
Verstehst du das Beispiel?
Do you understand the example?
Common mistakes
✗ “strah-se” with English st
✓ [ˈʃtʁaːsə] — starts with 'sht'
English st never changes, so the rule feels unnatural.
✗ “fen-shter”
✓ [ˈfɛnstɐ] — plain st inside the stem
Learners overapply the sht rule to every st.
✗ “fer-steh-en” with plain st
✓ [fɛɐ̯ˈʃteːən] — sht after the prefix
The st is mid-word, but it starts the stem.
✗ “isht”
✓ [ɪst] — plain st at the end
'isht' is Swabian dialect, not standard German.
How to practise
- Say 'sh-t, sh-t', then Stadt, Straße, Stunde.
- Split compounds aloud: Blei – stift, Haupt – stadt, then join them.
- Drill Stern – gestern and spielen – spielst back and forth.
- Read 'ist, bist, Gast, Post, Fenster' with plain English st.
Questions learners ask
Why is st pronounced 'sht' in German?
Standard German shifted s to 'sh' before p and t at the start of a stem. Spelling never changed, so the letters stayed st and sp.
Is 'ist' pronounced 'isht'?
Not in standard German, where it is [ɪst]. 'isht' is typical of Swabian and some southwestern dialects.
Do people in Hamburg really say 's-tein'?
Traditionally, yes: older northern speakers keep a plain s in st and sp. Most younger speakers use standard 'sht'.