The alphabet and its sounds
German spelling is remarkably consistent. Learn the letters, the umlauts, and a dozen letter combinations, and you can pronounce almost any German word on sight — even ones you’ve never seen before.
Seven rules that carry most of the load
1. Stress usually falls on the first syllable
Most German words are stressed on the first syllable of their stem: SPRE-chen, AR-bei-ten, MUT-ter. Three exceptions are worth knowing early. The prefixes be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent- and emp- are never stressed (be-SU-chen, ver-STE-hen). Separable prefixes are always stressed (AN-ru-fen, AUF-ste-hen). And many borrowed words stress the end (Res-tau-RANT, U-ni-ver-si-TÄT). The respellings on this site always show you where the stress goes.
2. Write it, say it — every letter counts
German spelling is very regular: once you know the letters and combinations, you can read almost any word aloud. Very little is silent. The k in Knie and the final e in bitte are both pronounced; the main silent letter is an h after a vowel, which only marks the vowel as long.
3. Vowel length changes the word
A vowel is usually long before a single consonant, before an h, or when doubled (Staat), and short before two or more consonants (Stadt). The difference matters: Staat (state) vs Stadt (town), Miete (rent) vs Mitte (middle), kam (came) vs Kamm (comb).
4. Final consonants harden
At the end of a word or syllable, b, d, g and s lose their voice and sound like p, t, k and a sharp s. Tag sounds like 'tahk', Hund like 'hunt', ab like 'ap'. Add an ending and the soft sound comes back: Tage, Hunde.
5. w, v, z and j are not what they look like
Four letters trip up English speakers again and again: w is 'v' (Wasser), v is usually 'f' (Vater), z is 'ts' (Zeit), and j is 'y' (ja). Get these four right and you will already sound much more German.
6. Two sounds for ch
After a, o, u and au, ch is throaty, like Scottish 'loch' (Bach, Buch, auch). Everywhere else it's a softer hiss near the front of the mouth (ich, nicht, Milch). Neither is ever the 'ch' of English 'church' — that sound is spelled tsch in German.
7. Every noun starts with a capital letter
German capitalises all nouns, not just names: der Tisch, die Freundin, das Wasser. It's a spelling rule rather than a pronunciation one, but it helps you read: a capital letter in the middle of a sentence usually means a noun.
Every letter
In the order German children learn them. Press play to hear the letter’s name, or the example word.
Vowels5
Five of them, each with a long and a short version. Length can change the meaning.
- a“a” ah/a/, /aː/
Like the 'a' in 'father'. Short and clipped before two consonants (Mann), long before one consonant or an h (Name, Bahn).
ApfelAP-fel— apple - e“e” ay/eː/, /ɛ/, /ə/
Three sounds. Long, like 'ay' in 'say' without the y-glide (gehen). Short, like 'e' in 'bed' (Bett). Unstressed at the end of a word, a soft 'uh' — bitte ends like 'sofa'.
EselAY-zel— donkey - i“i” ee/iː/, /ɪ/
Long like 'ee' in 'see' (Kino); short like 'i' in 'sit' (Kind).
IgelEE-gel— hedgehog - o“o” oh/oː/, /ɔ/
Long like 'oh' with no w-glide at the end (Brot); short like the 'o' in British 'pot' (Sonne).
OmaOH-mah— grandma - u“u” oo/uː/, /ʊ/
Long like 'oo' in 'boot' (gut); short like 'u' in 'put' (Mutter).
UhrOOR— clock, watch
Umlauts3
The two dots change the sound completely. ö and ü have no English equivalent — round your lips.
- ä“ä” eh/ɛ/, /ɛː/
Like the 'e' in 'bed'. When long, just hold it: Käse. Written ae when an umlaut isn't available.
KäseKEH-zuh— cheese - ö“ö” ur/øː/, /œ/
Say 'ay' and round your lips as if for 'oh'. Close to the vowel in 'her' without the r. Written oe when an umlaut isn't available.
schönSHURN— beautiful, nice - ü“ü” ew/yː/, /ʏ/
Say 'ee' and round your lips tightly, as if for 'oo' — like French 'tu'. Written ue when an umlaut isn't available.
TürTEWR— door
Consonants21
Mostly close to English. Watch w (a 'v'), v (usually an 'f'), z (a 'ts'), and j (a 'y').
- b“be” bay/b/
'b' as in 'bed'. At the end of a word or syllable it hardens to 'p': ab sounds like 'ap'.
BrotBROHT— bread - c“ce” tsay/k/, /ts/
Rare on its own and mostly in loanwords: 'k' before a, o, u (Café), 'ts' before e and i (Celsius). Usually you meet it inside ch, ck, or sch.
Computerkom-PYOO-ter— computer - d“de” day/d/
'd' as in 'dog'. At the end of a word it hardens to 't': Hund sounds like 'hunt'.
DachDAKH— roof - f“ef” ef/f/
'f' as in 'fish'.
FischFISH— fish - g“ge” gay/ɡ/
Always hard, as in 'go' — never soft as in 'gem'. At the end of a word it hardens to 'k' (Tag), and in the ending -ig it usually becomes the soft ch sound (richtig).
GartenGAR-ten— garden - h“ha” hah/h/
'h' as in 'house' at the start of a syllable. After a vowel it is silent and only tells you the vowel is long: Sohn, gehen.
HandHANT— hand - j“jot” yot/j/
Like 'y' in 'yes' — never like English 'j'. Ja sounds like 'yah'.
JahrYAHR— year - k“ka” kah/k/
'k' as in 'kite'. Pronounced even before n: in Knie (knee) you hear the k.
KatzeKAT-suh— cat - l“el” el/l/
A clear, light 'l' as in 'leaf' — never the dark, hollow 'l' of English 'full'.
LampeLAM-puh— lamp - m“em” em/m/
'm' as in 'man'.
MilchMILKH— milk - n“en” en/n/
'n' as in 'no'. Before g or k it becomes the 'ng' of 'sing'.
NaseNAH-zuh— nose - p“pe” pay/p/
'p' as in 'pen'.
PostPOST— post office, mail - q“ku” koo/kv/
Always followed by u, and the pair qu sounds like 'kv': Quelle is 'KVEL-luh'.
QuelleKVEL-luh— spring, source - r“er” air/ʁ/
Made at the back of the throat — a light gargle, like a French r. After a vowel at the end of a syllable it softens into a short 'uh': Bier is close to 'beer' with the r swallowed.
RoseROH-zuh— rose - s“es” es/z/, /s/, /ʃ/
Before a vowel it buzzes like 'z' (Sonne); at the end of a syllable it's a plain 's' (Haus); at the start of a word before p or t it's 'sh' (Sport, Stadt).
SalzZALTS— salt - t“te” tay/t/
't' as in 'top'. The th in German words (Theater) is just 't'.
TischTISH— table - v“vau” fow/f/, /v/
Usually 'f' in German words (Vater, viel). In some loanwords it's a 'v' (Vase, Klavier).
VogelFOH-gel— bird - w“we” vay/v/
Like English 'v' — never English 'w'. Wasser is 'VAS-ser'.
WasserVAS-ser— water - x“ix” iks/ks/
'ks' as in 'box'.
TaxiTAK-see— taxi - y“ypsilon” EWP-see-lon/ʏ/, /yː/, /j/
Mostly in loanwords. Like ü in Typ and Physik; like 'y' in 'yes' at the start of a few words (Yoga).
TypTEWP— type, guy - z“zett” tset/ts/
Always 'ts' as in 'cats' — even at the very start of a word. Zug is 'tsook'.
ZugTSOOK— train
Eszett1
A letter of its own: a sharp 's' after a long vowel or diphthong.
- ß“Eszett” es-TSET/s/
A sharp, hissed 's' — never a 'b'. It follows a long vowel or a diphthong (Straße, heißen); after a short vowel you write ss instead (Wasser). Swiss German always writes ss.
StraßeSHTRAH-suh— street
Combinations that make one sound
Two or more letters, one sound. These are where English readers slip most often — especially ei and ie, and the two sounds of ch.
- sch/ʃ/
'sh' as in 'shoe'.
SchuleSHOO-luh— school - sp, st/ʃp/, /ʃt/
At the start of a word (or a word part), s before p or t is 'sh': Sport is 'shport', Stadt is 'shtat'. In the middle of a word it stays 's' (Fenster).
StadtSHTAT— town, city - chafter a, o, u, au/x/
A throaty, scraping sound at the back of the mouth, like Scottish 'loch'. Never like English 'church'.
BuchBOOKH— book - cheverywhere else/ç/
A soft hiss made with the tongue near the roof of the mouth — the 'h' in 'huge', said with more breath. This is the ch of ich, nicht, Milch.
ichIKH— I - chs/ks/
Usually 'ks', as in 'box'.
sechsZEKS— six - ck/k/
A plain 'k'. It only comes after a short vowel.
ZuckerTSUK-ker— sugar - tsch/tʃ/
'ch' as in 'church'.
DeutschDOYTCH— German (the language) - pf/pf/
Both letters, run together: 'p' straight into 'f'.
PferdPFEHRT— horse - ng/ŋ/
The 'ng' of 'singer' — no hard 'g' after it, not even in Finger.
singenZING-en— to sing - ei, ai/aɪ/
Like the 'i' in 'line'. Trap: ei is never 'ee' — mein is 'mine'.
WeinVAIN— wine - ie/iː/
A long 'ee' as in 'see'. Remember: ie says the second letter, ei says the first.
LiebeLEE-buh— love - au/aʊ/
Like 'ow' in 'how'.
HausHOWS— house - eu, äu/ɔʏ/
Like 'oy' in 'boy'.
LeuteLOY-tuh— people - -ig/ɪç/
At the end of a word, -ig ends in the soft ch of ich: richtig, König, zwanzig.
richtigRIKH-tikh— correct, right - -er/ɐ/
At the end of a word, -er is a short, open 'uh' with the r barely there: Vater sounds close to 'FAH-tuh'.
VaterFAH-ter— father
The pronunciation respelling key
Every word on the site carries a respelling like ent-SHUL-di-gung. Here is what each part means.
- CAPITALS
- the stressed syllable — usually the first, but not always
- ah
- long a, as in 'father'
- a
- short a, a quick, clipped 'ah'
- ay
- long e, as in 'say' with no y-glide
- e
- short e or ä, as in 'bed'
- eh
- long ä, the 'e' of 'bed' held longer
- uh
- unstressed e, the 'a' in 'sofa'
- ee
- long i or ie, as in 'see'
- i
- short i, as in 'sit'
- oh
- long o, as in 'go' with no w-glide
- o
- short o, as in British 'pot'
- oo
- long u, as in 'boot'
- u
- short u, as in 'put'
- ur
- ö — 'her' without the r, lips rounded
- ew
- ü — say 'ee' with rounded lips, French 'tu'
- ai
- ei / ai, as in 'line'
- ow
- au, as in 'how'
- oy
- eu / äu, as in 'boy'
- kh
- ch — throaty after a, o, u (Bach); a soft hiss elsewhere (ich)
- sh
- sch, and s before p or t at the start of a word
- ts
- z and tz, as in 'cats'
- z
- s before a vowel, as in 'zoo'
- v
- German w, as in 'very'
- f
- German v, usually, as in 'far'
- y
- German j, as in 'yes'
- er
- -er at the end of a word: a soft 'uh', the r barely heard
- r
- a light gargle at the back of the throat