Pronounce in German:
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
The German alphabet uses the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, plus four additional characters:
- The three Umlaute (modified vowels): ä, ö, ü.
- The Eszett (sharp S): ß.
Pronounce in German:
Say the five vowels in German
And what do they sound like when used in words?
a, e, i, o, u
- a [a]
- e [ɛ] [eː]
- i [ɪ] [iː]
- o [ɔ} [oː]
- u [ʊ] [uː]
German vowels are pronounced more consistently than in English, but the key is recognizing their purity and length.
Unlike English, German vowels are always pure (or “tense”) and do not glide into a second sound (diphthongize) like the ‘o’ in English “go”.
Every German vowel has a long and a short version; the long vowels are sustained and tense, and the short vowels are clipped and lax.
As a rule of thumb, a vowel is usually long when followed by a single consonant (Hase), and short when followed by double consonants (Wasser) or consonant clusters.
- a: Like the ‘a’ in “father”. Always pure and open; never flat like the ‘a’ in “cat” e.g.: Mann.
- e: Like the ‘e’ in “bet” (Short). If long, it’s like the ‘ay’ in “say” but pure, without the glide E.g.: Weg.
- i: Like the ‘i’ in “ship” (Short). If long, it’s like the ‘ee’ in “see”. Never like the ‘i’ in “mine” (aɪ) e.g.: in.
- o: Like the ‘o’ in “off” or “bought” (Short). If long, like the pure ‘o’ in “go” (without the w sound) e.g.: Opa.
- u: Like the ‘u’ in “put” or “book” (Short). If long, like the ‘oo’ in “moon” e.g.: und.
Pronounce in German:
sie
(she)
ie [iː]
Like the ‘ee’ in “see”. The ‘i’ comes first, but the vowel sound is long and high.
Pronounce in German:
Beispiel
(example)
ei [aɪ]
Like the ‘i’ in “mine”. (Pronounced eye). It’s the opposite of IE.
Pronounce in German:
Auto
(car)
au [aʊ]
Like the ‘ow’ in “how” or “brown”.
Pronounce in German:
Euro (euro) / Häuser (houses)
eu - äu [ɔɪ]
Like the ‘oy’ in “boy” or “toy”.
Pronounce in German:
Lösung
(solution)
ö [ø]
Pucker your lips for an ‘oh’ sound, but say the vowel in “say”.
Pronounce in German:
Tür
(door)
ü [y]
Pucker your lips for an ‘oo’ sound (as in “moon”), but say the ‘ee’ sound (as in “see”). (Sound similar to the ‘u’ in French tu).
Pronounce in German:
Schule
(school)
sch [ʃ]
Like the ‘sh’ in “shoe” or “ship”.
Pronounce in German:
Sport (sport) / Stadt (city)
sp [ʃp]
st [ʃt]
Crucial: At the beginning of a word, the ‘s’ is pronounced like an sh. E.g., Sport (“sport”) is pronounced Shport.
Pronounce in German:
Welt
(world)
w [v]
Like the ‘v’ in “very” or “van”. (This is a major gotcha: the German W is never pronounced like the English W).
Pronounce in German:
Vater
(dad)
v [f]
Usually like the ‘f’ in “fan”. Gotcha: the V is rarely pronounced like the English V in native German word.
However, there are exceptions, especially with loanwords (words adopted from other languages, often Latin or French), where it retains the V-sound. E.g.: Video, Vampir, Vase, Verb, Visum, privat, or Universität.
Pronounce in German:
Jahr
(year)
j [j]
Like the ‘y’ in “yes” or “yoga”. The German J is never pronounced like the English J in “jump”, except for the many English loanwords Germans use like “job” or “jeans”.
Pronounce in German:
Hausaufgabe
(homework)
h [h] or silent
Initial: A strong puff of air, like the ‘h’ in “house”.
Internal: After a vowel, it is silent and lengthens the vowel sound before it, like Jahr.
Pronounce in German:
Straße (street) / Fluss (river)
ß - ss [s]
Like the voiceless ‘s’ in “sister”. ß (Eszett) always follows a long vowel, and ss always follows a short vowel.
Pronounce in German:
Buch
(book)
ch [ç] [x]
Two Sounds:
- After i, e, ä, ö, ü: Like the sound when you hiss a cat (a light friction sound). E.g.: ich (I).
- After a, o, u, au: The raspy sound from the back of the throat (similar to the ‘ch’ in Scottish Loch). E.g.: Buch (“book”).
Pronounce in German:
Reise
(trip)
r [ʁ] - r [ɐ]
The ‘R’ is gargled, made in the back of the throat (uvular). It sounds like the French ‘R’ or a very light gargle, never like the US ‘R’ in words like “right,” “car,” or “red”. The tongue does not curl back.
At the end of a syllable or word, ‘R’ often softens to an ‘uh’ sound. E.g.: Lehrer (“teacher”) sounds like ‘Leh-ra’. Also note that to ensure clarity and Standard German formality, make sure the ‘R’ is still softly audible, not just a pure ‘A’ sound.
Pronounce in German:
Kind
(kid)
k [k]
Sound is like the ‘k’ in “kitchen”. The crucial difference is that the German K is pronounced without the puff of air (unaspirated) that you often hear in English when the ‘k’ starts a word (like “key”). Pronounce it more firmly and abruptly.
Pronounce in German:
Ring
(ring)
g [g]
g (Ending -ig) [ç] [ɪg]
ng [ŋ]
Initial/middle: Pronounced like the hard ‘g’ in “go” or “garden”. It is never soft like the ‘g’ in “giant” .
Crucial: At the end of words (especially in the ending -ig), the ‘g’ often sounds like the soft ‘ch’ sound (the cat-hiss sound, as in ich). E.g.: wenig - wenich (“little”).
Note that the pronunciation of ig as the hard [ɪg] (like the ‘ig’ in “dig”) is also correct in the base form and is mandatory in plural forms. E.g., wenige (plural of wenig).
Like the ‘ng’ in “sing” or “ring”. The ‘g’ is not pronounced as a separate letter. E.g.: Ring (“ring”).
