German for Beginners

Lesson 1.2 - Das Abc

Das Alphabet - Part One

A German Pronunciation Guide

The Sounds of German - The German Alphabet

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In the following chart you'll find the letters of the German alphabet, including those unique to German (in shaded rows). The
pronunciation shown is only approximate and is for the letter (der Buchstabe) itself, not the way it may be sounded in the
sample words shown. (For that, see our German Pronunciation Hazards.) To hear the entire alphabet in German, click on the
link below. (Some sound files require the free RealPlayer. See below.) To hear individual letters (as .wav files), click on any
linked letter.

The alphabet is a very practical thing to learn. There are times when you may need to spell your name or other words on
the phone. A BMW car is prounonced BAY-EM-VAY in German. A VW is a FOW-VAY. A bra is a BAY-HAH (BH) in German. Many
other German words are reduced to letters in the same way: Lkw (truck, ELL-KA-VAY), Pkw (car, PAY-KA-VAY), ICE (high-
speed train, EE-SAY-AY). After studying this chart, see our Alphabet Exercise to test your ability to write out German letters for
abbreviations or words you hear!

Spelling German on the Phone: See a related lesson on the German Phonetic Spelling Code - the German equivalent of
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...

For older German font/type styles such as Gothic (Fraktur) or the hand-written Sütterlin, see the article German Typefaces,
the Fraktur Typeface Glossary, and links under "Genealogy" or "Translating German" in the Topics column on the left.

Also see Diphthongs and Grouped Consonants in Part 2, plus our German Pronunciation Hazards in Part 3.

How to Use This Alphabet Chart

 Click on any linked letter below to hear that letter as a .wav file.
 MP3 Audio: The entire alphabet in German: Das Abc (MP3)

 To hear the entire alphabet in German as streamed .ram audio, click on the speaker icon (here or below).
 Don't have the RealPlayer? Download it for free from Real.com.

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das Alphabet
The German Alphabet and Its Sounds

Buchstabe Aussprache Beispiele / Examples

Letter Pronunciation

Aa ah ab (from), der Apparat (appliance, phone)

Ää ay der Äther (ether), die Fähre (ferry)

Bb bay bei (at, near), das Buch (book)

Cc say die City (downtown), der Computer

Dd day durch (through), dunkel (dark)

Ee ay elf (eleven), wer (who), er (he)

Ff eff faul (lazy), der Feind (enemy)

Gg gay das Gehirn (brain), gleich (same, equal)

Hh haa die Hand (hand), halb (half)

Ii eeh der Igel (hedgehog), immer (always)

Jj yot das Jahr (year), jung (young)

Kk kah der Kalender (calendar), kennen (know)

Ll ell langsam (slow, slowly), die Leute (people)

Mm emm mein (my), der Mann (man)

Nn enn die Nacht (night), nein (no), nicht (not)

Oo oh das Ohr (ear), die Oper (opera)

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 Öö ooh Österreich (Austria), öfters (once in a while)

Pp pay das Papier (paper), positiv (positive)

Qq koo die Quelle (source), quer (crossways)

Rr err das Rathaus (city hall), rechts (right)

Ss ess die Sache (matter), das Salz (salt), seit (since)

ß ess-zett Lower case only. Replaces "ss" in some words. Not used in
(s-z ligature) Swiss German.
groß (big, great), die Straße (street)
BUT: das Wasser (water), dass (that), muss (must)

Tt tay der Tag (day), das Tier (animal)

Uu ooh die U-Bahn (subway, metro), unter (below)

Üü uyuh über (over, about), die Tür (door)

Vv fow der Vater (father), vier (four)

Ww vay wenn (if, whenever), die Woche (week)

Xx ixx x-mal (umpteen), das Xylofon

Yy oop-see- der Yen (yen), der Typ (type)

lohn

Zz zett zahlen (pay), die Pizza, zu (to, too)

To hear the entire alphabet in German as streamed audio,

click on the speaker: (Requires free RealPlayer)

German for Beginners:

Aussprache - Pronunciation (Part 2)

A German Pronunciation Guide

Diphthongs and Consonant Pairs

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German is a much more phonetically consistent language than English. This means that German words almost always sound the
way they are spelled—with consistent sounds for any given spelling. (e.g., the German ei - as in nein - spelling is always
sounded EYE, whereas German ie - as in Sie - always has the EEE sound.) No need to learn exceptions like English “i before e,
except after c.” In German, the rare exceptions are usually foreign words from English, French, or other languages. Any student
of German should learn the sounds associated with certain spellings as soon as possible. Knowing them, you will be able to
correctly pronounce even German words you have never seen before!

Now that you know how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet in German, we'll advance to the next stage. First, let's talk
about some terminology. It is helpful to know, for instance, what diphthongs and paired consonants are.

Diphthongs
A diphthong (Greek di, two + phthongos, sound, voice) is a combination of two vowels that blend and are sounded together.
Instead of being pronounced separately, the two letters have one sound or pronunciation. An example would be the au
combination. The diphthong au in German always has the sound OW, as in English “ouch” (the "ou" being an English diphthong;
the au is also part of the German word autsch, which is pronounced almost the same as “ouch” in English!) Obviously, this kind
of information is very useful to know when you are trying to pronounce German. In the chart below, we present more examples
of German diphthongs.

Grouped or Paired Consonants

While diphthongs are always vowel pairs, German also has many common grouped or paired consonants that have a
consistent pronunciation as well. An example of this would be st, a very common combination of the consonants s and t, found
in many German words. In standard German, the st combination at the beginning of a word is always pronounced like SCHT
and not like the st found in English “stay” or “stone.” So a German word such as Stein (stone, rock) is pronounced SCHTINE,
with an initial SCH-sound, as in “show.” You'll find more examples of paired consonants in the chart below.

Diphthongs

Diphthong Aussprache Beispiele / Examples

Double Pronunciation
Vowels

ai / ei eye bei (at, near), das Ei (egg), der Mai (May)

au ow auch (also), das Auge (eye), aus (out of)

eu / äu oy Häuser (houses), Europa (Europe), neu (new)

ie eeh bieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you)

Grouped Consonants

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 Buchstabe Aussprache Beispiele / Examples
Consonant Pronunciation

ck k dick (fat, thick), der Schock (shock)

ch >> After a, o, u and au, pronounced like the guttural ch in

Scottish "loch" - das Buch (book), auch (also). Otherwise it is
a palatal sound as in: mich (me), welche (which), wirklich
(really). TIP: If no air is passing over your tongue when you
say a ch-sound, you aren't saying it correctly. No true
equivalent in English. - Although ch doesn't usually have a
hard k sound, there are exceptions: Chor, Christoph, Chaos,
Orchester, Wachs (wax)

pf pf Both letters are (quickly) pronounced as a combined puff-

sound: das Pferd (horse), der Pfennig. If this is difficult for
you, an f sound will work, but try to do it!

ph f das Alphabet, phonetisch - Some words formerly spelled

with ph are now spelled with f: das Telefon, das Foto

qu kv die Qual (anguish, torture), die Quittung (receipt)

sch sh schön (pretty), die Schule (school) - The German sch

combination is never split, whereas sh usually is (Grashalme,
Gras/Halme; but die Show, a foreign word).

sp / st shp / sht At the start of a word, the s in sp/st has a sch sound as in
English "show, she." sprechen (speak), stehen (stand)

th t das Theater (tay-AHTER), das Thema (TAY-muh), topic -

Always sounds like a t (TAY). NEVER has the English th sound!

AUDIO > RealAudio sound for this page!

On the next page we'll offer more German pronunciation help, including some dangers to avoid!

German for Beginners:

Pronunciation - Aussprache (Part 3)

A German Pronunciation Guide

With DANGERS to Avoid!

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In this third part of our German Pronunciation Guide, we offer more tips and point out some hidden dangers caused by
interference from English. Also see Part 1 (Das Alphabet) and Part 2 (Diphthongs & Consonants). Because you speak English (or
some other language besides German), you need to guard against pronouncing German in an English or non-German way.

Letter Sounds in Words

Previously, we showed you how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet and certain letter combinations in German. Now we
want to concentrate on how to pronounce other letters and letter combinations found within German words. For instance, a "d"
at the end of a German word usually has a hard "t" sound in German, not the soft "d" sound of English. That is just one example
of the many possible pitfalls found in the chart below.

Similar Words
In addition, the fact that English and German words are often identical or very similar in spelling can lead to pronunciation
errors. We'll show you some mistakes you can avoid in the second chart below, but here are two "dangerous" examples:
bomb/Bombe and pizza/Pizza. The German word for bomb is pronounced BOM-bah (the "b" is not silent and the final "e" is
sounded). A German pizza sounds like PITS-uh, not PEET-sa! (Hear audio!)

Here are some more examples of German pronunciation pitfalls:

Letters in Words

Spelling Aussprache Beispiele / Examples

Pronunciation

final b p Lob (LOHP)

final d t Freund (FROYNT), Wald (VALT)

final g k genug (guh-NOOK)

silent h - gehen (GAY-en), sehen (ZAY-en)

When h follows a vowel, it is silent. When it precedes a vowel (Hund), the h is pronounced.

German th t Theorie (TAY-oh-ree)

German v f Vater (FAHT-er)

In some foreign, non-Germanic words with v, the v is pronounced as in English: Vase (VAH-suh), Villa (VILL-ah)

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 German w v Wunder (VOON-der)

German z ts Zeit (TSITE), like ts in "cats"; never like an English soft z (as
in "zoo")

Similar Words
Pronunciation Pitfalls

Wort Aussprache Comments

Word Pronunciation

Bombe BOM-buh The m, b, and e are all heard

bomb

Genie zhuh-NEE The g is soft, like the s sound in "leisure"

genius

Nation NAHT-see-ohn The German -tion suffix is pronounced TSEE-ohn

nation

Papier pah-PEER Stress on the last syllable

paper

Pizza PITS-uh The i is a short vowel because of the double z

pizza

ALSO SEE > False Friends (German/English)

AUDIO > RealAudio sound for this page!

German Pronunciation Guide

Audio: Pronunciation Hazards to Avoid

Audio with German Text - Das Alphabet

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On this page of our German Pronunciation Guide, we offer you the opportunity to hear examples from Essential German, plus
Part 1 (Das Alphabet), Part 2 (Diphthongs & Consonants), and Part 3 (Hazards to Avoid) of our Pronunication Guide. Below is
a link to streaming audio and a printed script that you can use to follow what you are hearing. If you need help with the English
meanings, see the original pages (links found in each section). To listen to this audio segment, you must have the free
RealPlayer software installed on your computer. (Download RealPlayer from Real.com)

To hear the entire 15-minute segment in German

as streamed audio (.ram), click on the speaker icon:

If you don't have the RealPlayer, download it for free from Real.com

AUDIO SCRIPT 1 - Hear the AUDIO (.ram)

PART 1a - From Essential German
ja - nein - vielleicht
Guten Tag! - Auf Wiedersehen!
Guten Morgen! - Gute Nacht!
mit Frühstück?
unten - oben
der Ober - die Kellnerin
Wo ist die Toilette?

der Zug - das Flugzeug - das Auto

der Bahnhof - der Flughafen
links - rechts
das Brot - das Brötchen
das Bier - der Wein - der Saft
Das ist billig. - Das ist teuer.
das Kaufhaus - das Lebensmittelgeschäft - der Markt

PART 1b - From Essential German 2

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? - Sprechen Sie Englisch?
Noch einmal, bittte.
Wie bitte?
Langsamer, bitte.

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Bitte Wiederholen Sie!
Ich verstehe nicht.
Ich habe eine Frage.
Wie sagt man...?
Ich weiß nicht. Ich weiß es nicht
Doch!
Wo ist...? Wo sind...?
wann? - wer? - wie?
warum? - was?
Schon gut!
Ich habe kein...
Ich habe keine...
Ich habe keinen...
Ich habe kein Geld.

AUDIO SCRIPT 2
PART 1 - From Das Abc
The words in bold type are the words you will hear.
Letters as they are pronounced in German words:
A - der Apparat, der Vater, ab, aktiv, alles
Ä - der Bär, der Jäger, die Fähre, die Ärzte, mächtig
B - bei, das Buch, die Bibel, ob, halb
C - der Computer, die City, das Café, C-Dur, die CD
D - durch, dunkel, das Ende, der Freund, das Land
E - elf, er, wer, eben, Englisch
F - faul, Freunde, der Feind, das Fenster, der Fluss
G - gleich, das Gehirn, gegeben, gern, das Image
H - haben, die Hand, gehen (silent h), (G - das Glas, das Gewicht)
I - der Igel, immer, der Fisch, innerhalb, gibt
J - das Jahr, jung, jemand, der Joker, das Juwel
K - kennen, der Koffer, der Spuk, die Lok, das Kilo
L - langsam, die Leute, Griechenland, malen, locker
M - mein, der Mann, die Lampe, Minuten, mal
N - nein, die Nacht, die Nase, die Nuss, niemals
O - das Ohr, die Oper, oft, das Obst, das Formular
Ö - Österreich, öfters, schön, die Höhe, höchstens
P - das Papier, positiv, der PC, der Papst, pur
R - das Rathaus, rechts, unter, rund, die Reederei
S - die Sache, so, das Salz, seit, der September
ß/ss - groß, die Straße, muss, das, Wasser, dass
T - der Tag, täglich, das Tier, die Tat, die Rente
U - die U-Bahn, unser, der Rubel, um, der Jupiter
Ü - über, die Tür, schwül, Düsseldorf, drücken
V - der Vetter, vier, die Vase, aktiv, Nerven
W - wenn, die Woche, Treptow (silent w), das Wetter, wer
X - x-mal, das Xylofon, Xanthen
Y - der Yen, der Typ, typisch, das System, die Hypothek
Z - zahlen, die Pizza, die Zeit, zwei, der Kranz
PRINT > Druckversion - Print this page

Long and Short Vowels

long a/ä - Bahn, kam, Vater, Gas, kahl
short a/ä - Bann, Kamm, Kraft, halb, Gärten
long e - Beet, Meer, mehr, leer, Leben
short e - Bett, Vetter, letzte
long i - mich, dich, Kilo, Klima, Limo
short i - gibt, Mittel, Kind, Mist, Lippe
long o/ö - hohl, Boot, stören, Höhle, Ton
short o/ö - (rot long o), Post, Hölle, Tonne, Koffer
long u/ü - fühlen, Mut, Hut, Jugend, Kuh
short u/ü - füllen, Mutter, Hütte, Nutte, Puppe

AUDIO SCRIPT for this audio file.

PART 2 - From Diphthongs & Consonant Pairs
Diphthongs
ai/ei - bei (at, near), das Ei (egg), die Polizei, der Mai (May), der Kaiser
au - auch (also), das Auge (eye), aus (out of), klauen (steal), tauchen (dive)
äu/ eu - Häuser (houses), Europa (Europe), neu (new), heute (today), teuer (expensive)

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ie - bieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you), bieten (offer), nie (never), Sie (you), mieten (rent), der Riese (giant)

Grouped Consonants
ck - dick (fat, thick), der Schock (shock), drucken (print), picken, sickern
The ch letter combination is pronounced several different ways in German:

ch 1 - das Buch (book), auch (also), der Bauch (stomach), die Woche (week), noch (yet)
ch 2 - ich, mich (me), welche (which), wirklich (really), nicht (not)
ch 3 - das Mädchen, ein bisschen
ch 4 - der Chor, das Chaos, der Chianti, der Charakter
ch 5a (ch) - China, die Chemie - manchmal auch: (sometimes also)
ch 5b (sh) - China, die Chemie - und auch:
ch 5c (k) - China, die Chemie
ch 6 - Chigago, der Chef, Chile
-ig (-ich) - zwanzig, dreißig, mächtig
-ig (-ik) - zwanzig, dreißig, mächtig
chs - sechs, das Wachs, der Lachs, Sachsen, wechseln
dt - die Stadt
kn - der Knabe, das Knie, knusprig, der Knoblauch, die Kneipe
pf - das Pferd, pflanzen, der Pfennig, der Napf, das Pflaster, die Pflege
auch (also): das Pferd, der Pfennig, pflanzen, das Pflaster, die Pflege
ph/f - das Alphabet, phonetisch, die Pharmaindustrie, die Phase, die Philatelie
qu - die Qual, quer, die Quelle, die Quittung, der Quark - aber der Quai (also spelled Kai)
sch - die Schule, schön, schade, der Schatz, schlafen
The German sch combination is never split, whereas sh usually is: Grashalme, Gras/Halme; but die Show (foreign word)
sp - sprechen, spalten, die Spannung, der Speck, die Speise
st - stehen, die Stadt, der Standard, der Stein, stellen
final st - der Mist, hast, bist, ist, willst
th - das Theater, das Thema, Thomas, die Theke, das Thermometer
tz - der Witz, der Blitz, der Rotz, letzte, sitzen

PART 3 - From Pronunciation Hazards

final b - das Lob (praise), der Job, der Lob (tennis)
be- prefix - beobachten, der Beobachter
final d - der Tod, der Feind, das Jod, der Wald
ei vs ie - Wien/der Wein, Sie/sei, schiessen/scheissen, der Riese/die Reise
final g - der Tag, genug, Berg, mag, lag
silent h - ohne, sehen, die Uhr, leihen, das Vieh
German ng - der Finger, der Hunger
initial r - der Rabe, rund, Regular, regulär, der Ring, das Ross
final r - vier, mehr, wunderbar, der Ring, der Ritter
German th, as in Theorie, der Thron, die Therapie - der Thriller (English)
German v - viel, bevor, negativ, der Vater, der Volkswagen
In some foreign, non-Germanic words the v is pronounced as in English: Vase (vase), Villa (villa)
German w - die Wahl, was, wieder, Wien, der Wind
German z - schwarz, die Zeit, zum, der Geiz, zerbrechen, der Zimt
umlauts - schon/schön, drucken/drücken, schwul/schwül, Mutter/Mütter, Bar/Bär

Similar Words with Pronunciation Pitfalls

Words similar to English, but pronounced differently.
die Bank (bank) - die Bombe (bomb) - die Distanz (distance)
der Finger (finger) - das Genie (genius) - die Hand (hand)
der Hunger (hunger) - die Nation (nation)
olympisch (Olympic) - das Papier (paper) - die Pause (pause)
die Pizza (pizza) - der Planet (planet)
das Restaurant (restaurant) - total (total)

Some more similar but different words.

der Berg (mountain) - die Burg (castle)
die Post (post office)
das Sofa

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