The German Alphabet

The German alphabet has 26 letters plus the umlauts Ä, Ö, Ü and the ß (eszett). Most letters sound close to English; J, V, W and Z do not. Tap any letter to hear its name in German.

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All 30 letters (26 + Ä, Ö, Ü, ß)

Tap any letter to hear its name in German.

a say “ah” a as in “father”
be say “bay” b as in “bed”
ce say “tsay” rare, mostly in loanwords: k before a, o, u (Café); ts before e, i
de say “day” d as in “dog”
e say “ay” long e as in “hey” (no glide) or short e as in “bed”; unstressed at the end, a weak “uh” (bitte)
ef say “eff” f as in “fun”
ge say “gay” g as in “go”
ha say “hah” h as in “hat” at the start of a word or syllable; after a vowel it is silent and makes the vowel long (Uhr)
i say “ee” ee as in “see” when long; i as in “bit” when short
jot say “yot” y as in “yes”
ka say “kah” k as in “kite”, with a puff of air
el l as in “let”
em m as in “man”
en n as in “no”
o say “oh” long o as in “go” but without the “oo” glide, or a short open o
pe say “pay” p as in “pin”, with a puff of air
ku say “koo” only in qu, said kv (Quiz = “kvis”)
er say “air” a throaty r at the back of the mouth, like the French r; after a vowel at the end of a word it turns into a soft “uh” (Uhr)
es say “ess” z as in “zoo” before a vowel (Sonne); s as in “sun” at the end (Haus); sp, st at the start = shp, sht
te say “tay” t as in “top”, with a puff of air
u say “oo” oo as in “food” when long; u as in “put” when short
vau say “fow” f as in “fun” in German words (Vater); v as in “van” in loanwords (Vase)
we say “vay” v as in “van”
ix say “iks” ks as in “box”
Ypsilon say “ÜP-see-lon” like ü in words from Greek (Typ); y as in “yes” in English loanwords (Yoga)
zett say “tset” ts as in “cats”
ä say “eh” e as in “bed”; when long, like the “ai” in “air” without the r
ö say “e” with rounded lips (like German ö)
ü say “ee” with rounded lips (like German ü)
Eszett say “es-TSET” s as in “sun”

7 letters that sound different for English speakers

Sounds like English y: ja = “yah” der Junge · boy
Usually an f: Vogel = “FOH-gel” der Vogel · bird
Sounds like English v: Wasser = “VAH-ser” das Wasser · water
Always ts, as in “cats”: Zucker = “TSOO-ker” der Zucker · sugar
Before a vowel it buzzes like z: Sonne = “ZON-neh” die Sonne · sun
A throaty r at the back of the mouth, not the English r das Rad · wheel
“ee” said with rounded lips: no English sound like it die Tür · door

Letter combinations: ch, sch, ei, ie, sp, st, ß

Letters	Examples	Sound
ch		after e, i, ä, ö, ü and consonants: a soft hiss, like the h in “huge” said hard (ich-sound)
ch		after a, o, u, au: rough, at the back of the throat, like Scottish “loch” (ach-sound)
sch		sh as in “shop”
ei · ie		ei = “eye” (Wein = “vine”); ie = “ee” (Bier = “beer”)
eu · äu		both = “oy” as in “boy” (Feuer = “FOY-er”)
sp · st		at the start of a word = shp, sht (Spiel = “shpeel”, Stern = “shtern”)
ß · ss		both = a sharp s; ß after a long vowel or ei/au (Fuß), ss after a short vowel (Fluss)
-b -d -g		at the end of a word they turn into p, t, k (Hund = “hoont”, Zug = “tsook”)

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.