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ei vs ie — The Great German Vowel Trap
🎯 ei vs ie — The Great German Vowel Trap
The single most common German spelling mistake English speakers make is mixing up ei and ie. They are pronounced the opposite of what English instinct says: mein rhymes with "mine", and vier sounds like "fear". Get this one rule right and your dictation marks jump straight away.
German vowels — the rules that catch you out
Memory trick: say the name of the second letter.
Earn the mark scheme marks
💡 Dictation Tips & Common Errors
- In dictation, decide ei vs ie by the sound: 'eye' → write ei; 'ee' → write ie.
- Always write the final -e you hear — it is never silent in German.
- When you hear 'ow', write au; when you hear 'oy', write eu (or äu if the word is related to an a-word, like Haus → Häuser).
❌ Common error: Writing 'mien' for 'mein', or 'Liebe' as 'Leibe'.
✓ Correct: mein ('eye' sound = ei) / Liebe ('ee' sound = ie).
Why it costs marks: ei and ie are reversed from English expectation. mein sounds like 'mine', so it's ei; Liebe (love) sounds like 'LEE-buh', so it's ie. Swapping them is the number-one German spelling error in dictation.