It is very easy to say "I miss you" in German. You simply assume the tone of voice of someone who misses someone and say "Ich vermisse Dich". Following the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) the sentence would be transcribed as follows: [ɪç fɛɐ'misə ˌdɪç]. If you need help perfecting your pronunciation, wikiHow is there for you! Read on for detailed tips.
Steps
Step 1. "Ich":
means "I". The letter 'I' is pronounced as the semi-frontal semi-closed vowel [ɪ], for example as the 'i' in the word "bit". The 'ch' part is pronounced as the voiceless palatal fricative [ç], a sound that does not exist in Italian, but in other languages such as Russian and Gaelic yes. The closest approximation in Italian could be the sound 'sc', the deaf palate-alveolar sibilant [ʃ]. But you can do better than this approximation: passing from the [ʃ], continue to inhale and position the tongue so that you have the highest point of affrication a little more internal than the [ʃ], between the tongue and the palate. The sound should be aspirated.
To hear this sound go to Google Translate, type the word and click on the audio icon
Step 2. "Vermisse":
comes from the infinitive "vermissen" which means "to miss". The "v" is pronounced like a [f]. In "er" the 'r' is not heard: the two letters together are pronounced as a [ɛɐ] or a [ɐ], depending on the local dialect. These two sounds do not exist in Italian but are similar to the sounds of the English language: respectively to the open diphthong with unrounded vowel of the 'e' of "bed" in American English and to the central semi-open vowel 'u' of "but". The syllable "Miss" is pronounced like the word "miss" in English and the accent of the entire sentence falls on it. It is followed by an "e" which is pronounced like the unrounded semi-central vowel [ə], like the 'a' of the English word "about".
