See you later | Bis später [German Learning - Female Voice]

To pronounce "Bis später" like a native German speaker using English sounds, it helps to break it down into two parts. Pronunciation Guide Bis: Sounds exactly like the English word "biss" (rhymes with miss or hiss). später: This is where the German phonetic rules kick in. The "sp" makes a "shp" sound (like the "sh" in shoe combined with "p"). The "ä" sounds like the "e" in bed or *fret*, but held just a little longer. The "ter" at the end is very soft in standard German, sounding more like an "ah" or "uh" rather than a hard English "er". Putting it altogether, it sounds like: Biss shpet-ah --- History and Meaning The phrase translates directly to "Until later" or, more casually, "See you later." Bis: This is a ancient Germanic preposition meaning "until." It has been used in Old High German (as bī or *bise*) and Middle High German for over a thousand years to mark a limit in time or space. später: This comes from the root word spät*, meaning "late." *Spät traces back to the Old High German word spāti*, which shared roots with Old English words related to wealth or success (growing "late" or mature). Over the centuries, *spät became the standard German word for late, and adding the "-er" makes it comparative, literally meaning "later." As a combined phrase, "Bis später" evolved as a standard, friendly farewell in modern German. It belongs to a family of German parting phrases that use "Bis" followed by a time frame, such as "Bis bald" (See you soon) or "Bis morgen" (See you tomorrow).