German alphabet

Lesson Vocabulary

das Alphabet - German alphabet

In German, there are 24 basic letters in the alphabet,,
plus four additional characters: the special letter ß (Eszett or sharp S)
and Umlaut: ä ö and ü

A a
der Apfel

apple
(ah)
like in "Father" (long) or "Arm" (short)

B b
das Brot

bread
(beh)
like in "Banana"

C c
(tseh)
like in "Chameleon"
der Computer

computer

C c
der Cent

cent
like in "Tsar"

D d
der Delfin

dolphin
(deh)
like in "Dog"

E e
der Esel

donkey
(eh)
like in "Bed" (short) or "They" (long)

F f
der Fisch

fish
(eff)
like in "Fox"

G g
die Gans

goose
(geh)
like in "Good"

H h
das Huhn

hen
(hah)
like in "House"

I i
der Igel

hedgehog
(ee)
like in "Machine" (long) or "Hit" (short)

J j
die Jacke

jacket
(yot)
like in "Yarn" (similar to the English 'Y')

K k
die Kuh

cow
(kah)
like in "Kite"

L l
der Löwe

lion
(ell)
like in "Lemon"

M m
die Maus

mouse
(emm)
like in "Mother"

N n
die Nase

nose
(enn)
like in "Nest"

O o
das Ohr

ear
(oh)
like in "Born" (long) or "Pot" (short)

P p
das Paket

parcel
(peh)
like in "Pencil"

Q q
die Qualle

jellyfish
(koo)
like in "Quality" (always followed by 'u' and pronounced /kv/)

R r
der Ring

ring
(err)
similar to the French 'R', more guttural than the English 'R'

S s
die Sonne

sun
(ess)
like in "See" (long) or "Hiss" (short), but sounds like "Zebra" at the beginning of words before a vowel

T t
die Torte

cake
(teh)
like in "Tiger"

U u
die Uhr

clock
(oo)
like in "Flu" (long) or "Put" (short)

V v
der Vogel

bird
(fau)
like in "Ferry" (usually pronounced /f/)

W w
die Welle

wave
(veh)
like in "Vase" (pronounced /v/)

X x
das Xylophon

xylophone
(iks)
like in "Fox"

Y y
die Yacht

yacht
(üpsilon)
like in "U" in "Unique" (when it's a vowel) or similar to the English 'Y' in "Yes" (when it's a consonant)

Z z
das Zelt

tent
(tsett)
like in "Tsar" (pronounced /ts/)

ß
der Fuß

foot
(ess-tsett)
like in "Sharp S", always pronounced /s/

Special letter ß (ess-tsett)

It is used as a final consonant or is positioned in the middle of a word.
It cannot be used as the initial letter or to start a word.
Typically, in German, when two identical letters are repeated, it shortens the sound of the word. For example:
das Messer The syllable 'Me' will have a shorter sound, changing from 'ay' to 'eh' instead of 'ay'.
The letter ß is used to replace a word that is written with two 's' letters (ss).
To ensure that the word retains its long vowel sound
and does not change the pronunciation of the word to a short sound. for example
das Maßband - measuring tape

Special letter ß (ess-tsett)

If ß is not followed by any other vowels, it is pronounced simply as 'ss' at the end. For example:
der Fuß - foot

bloß (Adj.) - just, only

süß (Adj.) - sweet

Special letter ß (ess-tsett)

However, when a vowel or another letter follows ß,
it is pronounced as 's' plus the vowel that comes after it.

die Soße In the word 'Soße,' you can see that even though there is only one ß, it is pronounced as if the first syllable were spelled with 's' and the following syllable uses the same ß. This makes the pronunciation similar to 'Sosse', where ß replaces 'ss'. What is special about 'Soße' is that it does not shorten the vowel sound; it retains the long 'o' sound, pronounced as 'Soße,' and not as a short 'Soze'.

die Füße - feet plural form in German from the word foot
It is pronounced as 's' + 'e', where 'e' is the following vowel, making it sound like 'se'.

Although ß is pronounced like 'ss' in some cases,
remember that ß ❌ ss
Or ß is the opposite of ss because ß makes the word have a long vowel sound, while ss makes the word have a short vowel sound.

Umlaut

can be both alphabet and vowel
but can't be used as a final consonant.

This special letter has both uppercase Ä, Ö, Ü and lowercase ä, ö, ü, just like regular letters.