Alphabet
Das Alphabet
| A (ah) | B (beh) | C (tseh) | D (day) | E (eh) | F (eff) | G (geh) | H (hah) | I (eeh) | J (yot) | K (kah) | L (ell) | M (em) |
| N (en) | O (oh) | P (peh) | Q (koo) | R (er) | S (es) | T (tay) | U (oo) | V (fow) | W (vay) | X (ix) | Y (ipsilon) | Z (tset) |
Letters not in the English Alphabet:
-
The two dots above the following letters: Ä, Ö, and Ü are called umlauts. ß IS NOT A B. It makes a ‘ss’ sound.
Ä (ae)Pronunciation:
Ö (oe)
Ü (ue)
ß (ess-tset)
-Vowels
◊Vowels are long if they are:
-
followed by a single consonant
Example: die Studie- the Study
(dee stuh-dee-uh)
-
doubled vowel
Example: das Beere- the Berry
(dahs bay-ruh)
-
followed by a ‘h’
Example: der Rahm- the Cream
(dehr rahm)
-
followed by two or more consonants
Example: die Farbe- the Color
(dee fahr-buh)
-
if the vowel is an e at the end of a word, not in combination with other
vowels
Example: die Garage- the Garage
(dee gah-rah-guh)
-A
♦Long ‘A’- like the ‘a’ in ‘ball’
♦Short ‘A’- like the ‘a’ in ‘want’
-E♦Long ‘E’- like the ‘ay’ in ‘play’
♦Short ‘E’- like the ‘e’ in ‘bed’
♦Unstressed ‘E’- like the ‘e’ in ‘water’
Note: Unlike in English, the ‘e’ at the end of a word in German is always pronounced.
Example: Käse- cheese, Name- name
(kay-zuh) (nah-muh)
-I
♦ Long ‘I’- like the ‘ee’ in ‘see’
♦Short ‘I’- like the ‘i’ in ‘sit’
-O
♦Long ‘O’- like the ‘ou’ in ‘ought’
♦Short ‘O’- like the ‘o’ in ‘most’
-U
♦Long ‘U’- like the ‘oo’ in ‘food’
♦Short ‘U’- like the ‘oo’ in ‘foot’
Vowels with an umlaut are sometimes written with an ‘e’ behind the letter instead of with the two dots. (ae, oe, ue)
-Ä
♦Long Ä: like the 'ay' in 'may'
♦Short Ä: like the ‘e’ in ‘bed’
-Ö
♦Long Ö: pronounced like a more drawn out version of the short ö
♦Short Ö: like the 'u' in 'sure'
-Ü
♦Long Ü: Position the lips to make an 'oo' sound, but make an 'ee' sound instead
♦Short Ü: Shorter version of the above pronunciation
Diphthongs
◊Diphthongs are a combination of two vowels
-Au
♦pronounced like the ‘ou’ in ‘sound’
-Ei
♦pronounced like the ‘ei’ in ‘height.' Be careful not to confuse 'ei' with 'ie.' 'Ie' sounds like 'ee.'
-Eu
♦pronounced like the ‘oy’ in ‘boy’
Consonants
-B
- pronounced the same as in English at the beginning of a word, but sounds like a ‘p’ at the end of a syllable.
-C
- mainly used in foreign words. Before an ‘e’, ‘i’, or ‘ä’, sounds like the 'ts' in ‘spits.’ Otherwise, pronounced like a ‘K’.
- The ‘ch’ can be pronounced in two ways. If the ‘ch’ is after an ‘a,’ ‘o,’ or ‘u,’ then it sounds like the Scottish pronunciation of ‘loch.’ Otherwise, it makes a strong ‘h’ sound.
-D
- pronounced the same as in English at the beginning of a word, but sounds like a ‘t’ at the end of a syllable.
-F
- pronounced the same as in English
-G
- pronounced the same as the ‘g’ in the English word ‘gorilla,’ but sounds like a ‘k’ at the end of a syllable.
- Note: In some German dialects, if the ‘g’ is preceded by an ‘i’ at the end of the word, it has a ‘ish’ sound. Example: vierzig- 40, neunzig- 90 (fear-sish) (noyn-sish)
-H
- before a vowel, it sounds like the ‘h’ in the English word ‘hand’
- After a vowel, it just lengthens the word and is silent.
-J
- it makes a ‘y’ sound like in ‘yes’
-K
- pronounced the same as in English
-L
- pronounced almost the same as in English, though it is not pronounced as heavily
-M
- pronounced the same as in English
-N
- pronounced the same as in English
-P
- pronounced the same as in English
-Q
- ‘qu’ makes a ‘kv’ sound. Just like English, the ‘q’ us always followed by an ‘u’ in German
-R
- close to English, but is slightly trilled like between the Scottish and Italian ‘r,’ or similar to a slight gargling sound.
-S
- sounds like the English ‘z’ before a vowel or between two vowels. Otherwise, it sounds like a soft ‘s’
-ß
- Sounds like the ‘ss’ in ‘glass’
-T
- pronounced the same as in English
-V
- makes somewhat of a ‘f’ sound like in ‘father.’ It is pronounced more like a ‘v’ in foreign words.
-W
- pronounced like the English ‘v’ like in ‘vest’
-X
- pronounced the same as in English
-Y
- pronounced the same as in English
-Z
- sounds like the English ‘s’