German alphabet pronunciation: every letter, Ä Ö Ü ß
Good news first: German is spelled almost exactly as it is spoken. Once you know the German alphabet pronunciation and a handful of letter pairs, you can read nearly any word out loud – even ones you have never seen before.
The German alphabet: letters, names and sounds
The table shows each letter, its German name (the way you say it when you spell), an English sound hint and an example word. English hints are only approximate – listen to the real sounds in the pronunciation trainer.
| Letter | Name | Say the name like | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a | “ah” as in father | Apfel (apple) |
| B b | be | “bay” | Brot (bread) |
| C c | ce | “tsay” | Café (café) – mostly in ch, sch, ck |
| D d | de | “day” | danke (thank you) |
| E e | e | “ay” as in say, without the glide | essen (to eat) |
| F f | ef | “eff” | Fisch (fish) |
| G g | ge | “gay” – hard g as in go | gut (good) |
| H h | ha | “hah” | Haus (house) – silent after a vowel: gehen |
| I i | i | “ee” | Insel (island) |
| J j | jot | “yot” – J sounds like English y | ja (yes) |
| K k | ka | “kah” | Kind (child) |
| L l | el | “ell” | Liebe (love) |
| M m | em | “emm” | Mutter (mother) |
| N n | en | “enn” | Name (name) |
| O o | o | “oh” | Obst (fruit) |
| P p | pe | “pay” | Post (post) |
| Q q | ku | “koo” – qu sounds like “kv” | Qualität (quality) |
| R r | er | “air” with a soft throaty r | rot (red) |
| S s | es | “ess” – before a vowel like English z | Sonne (sun) |
| T t | te | “tay” | Tee (tea) |
| U u | u | “oo” as in food | Uhr (clock) |
| V v | vau | “fow” (rhymes with cow) – V usually sounds like f | Vater (father) |
| W w | we | “vay” – W sounds like English v | Wasser (water) |
| X x | ix | “iks” | Taxi (taxi) |
| Y y | Ypsilon | “ÜP-see-lon” – in words usually like ü | Typ (type) |
| Z z | zet | “tset” – Z sounds like “ts” | Zeit (time) |
| Ä ä | ä | “eh” as in bed (longer in some words) | Käse (cheese) |
| Ö ö | ö | like her (without the r) with rounded lips | schön (beautiful) |
| Ü ü | ü | say “ee” with your lips rounded for “oo” | über (over) |
| ẞ ß | Eszett | “ess-TSET” – also called scharfes S | Straße (street) |
Vowels can be short or long. As a rule of thumb, a vowel is long before one consonant or an h (Tag, gehen, Sohn) and short before a double consonant (Bett, Mutter, kommen).
Ä, Ö, Ü and ß – the extra letters
The two dots on ä, ö, ü are called Umlaut. They change the sound and often the meaning: schon (already) vs schön (beautiful), Bruder (brother) vs Brüder (brothers).
- Ä is close to the “e” in bed: Männer, Käse.
- Ö: say “e” (as in say) and round your lips: schön, Öl.
- Ü: say “ee” and round your lips as if for “oo”: über, müde, Tür.
- ß is a sharp “s”. It comes after a long vowel or a diphthong (Straße, heißen); after a short vowel you write ss (Wasser, muss).
No German keyboard? Write ae, oe, ue and ss: Mueller, Strasse.
Tricky German sounds: ch, sch, ei/ie, eu, w, v, z, r
These letter combinations cause most beginner mistakes. Learn them once and German spelling becomes very predictable.
| Spelling | Sounds like | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ch after a, o, u, au | a rough sound from the back of the throat, like Scottish loch | Buch, acht, auch |
| ch after other vowels and consonants | a soft hiss, like a whispered “h” in huge | ich, Milch, Bücher |
| chs | “ks” | sechs, Fuchs |
| sch | “sh” as in ship | Schule, Fisch |
| sp, st at the start of a word | “shp”, “sht” | Sport, Straße, verstehen |
| ei | “eye” | mein, drei, Wein |
| ie | “ee” as in see | die, vier, Liebe |
| eu, äu | “oy” as in boy | neu, Euro, Häuser |
| w | English “v” | Wasser, wo, Wein |
| v | usually “f”; in foreign words “v” | Vater, viel – but Vase, Video |
| z, tz | “ts” as in cats | Zeit, zehn, Katze |
| r | at the start of a syllable a soft gargle in the throat; at the end of a word often like a short “uh” | rot, Reis – but der, Mutter |
| -ig at the end | in standard German like “ich” | zwanzig, König |
| b, d, g at the end | become p, t, k | gelb, Hund, Tag |
Memory trick for ei and ie: say the second letter in English. ei → “i” = “eye” (drei), ie → “e” = “ee” (vier). So Wein (wine) and Wien (Vienna) sound different.
Spelling on the phone: A wie Anton
At the doctor's, at the bank or on the phone you will often hear Können Sie das bitte buchstabieren? (Could you spell that, please?). Germans then use a spelling alphabet: each letter gets a word, and you say “A wie Anton” (A as in Anton). This is the traditional list from the German standard DIN 5009, which most people know:
| Say | Say | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| A | A wie Anton | O | O wie Otto |
| Ä | Ä wie Ärger | Ö | Ö wie Ökonom |
| B | B wie Berta | P | P wie Paula |
| C | C wie Cäsar | Q | Q wie Quelle |
| Ch | Ch wie Charlotte | R | R wie Richard |
| D | D wie Dora | S | S wie Samuel |
| E | E wie Emil | Sch | Sch wie Schule |
| F | F wie Friedrich | ß | ß wie Eszett |
| G | G wie Gustav | T | T wie Theodor |
| H | H wie Heinrich | U | U wie Ulrich |
| I | I wie Ida | Ü | Ü wie Übermut |
| J | J wie Julius | V | V wie Viktor |
| K | K wie Kaufmann | W | W wie Wilhelm |
| L | L wie Ludwig | X | X wie Xanthippe |
| M | M wie Martha | Y | Y wie Ypsilon |
| N | N wie Nordpol | Z | Z wie Zacharias |
Example – spelling the name Müller: “M wie Martha, Ü wie Übermut, zweimal L wie Ludwig, E wie Emil, R wie Richard.” For double letters say zweimal (twice) or Doppel-L.
Since 2022 DIN 5009 officially uses a new list based on German city names (for example A wie Aachen, B wie Berlin). The traditional name list above is still what you will hear most often.
How to practise German pronunciation
- Listen first. Go through every sound in the pronunciation trainer and repeat it out loud.
- Use it in real phrases. Lesson 1 starts with greetings and introductions – perfect for practising ich, Ü and the German r.
- Spell your own name. Practise “M wie Martha …” until it is fast, then test yourself with the spelling drills in the listening gym.
- Speak and check. In speaking practice, speech recognition shows you whether your German was understood.
More German basics
German numbers 1–100
From eins to hundert, prices, years and phone numbers.
Days & months
Montag to Sonntag, Januar to Dezember, dates and holidays.
50 basic phrases
Greetings, shopping, restaurant and emergencies – du and Sie.
der, die, das rules
Gender endings, plural and the four cases in one table.
Now train your ear and your mouth
The pronunciation trainer plays every German sound – then try them in Lesson 1. Free, no sign-up.
Open the pronunciation trainer →FAQ: the German alphabet
How many letters does the German alphabet have?
German uses the same 26 letters as English plus the three umlauts Ä, Ö and Ü and the letter ß (Eszett). That makes 30 letters, although the umlauts and ß are often not counted as separate letters of the alphabet.
How do I type Ä, Ö, Ü and ß without a German keyboard?
On phones, press and hold A, O, U or S to see the special letters. If you really cannot type them, write ae, oe, ue and ss instead: Mueller for Müller, Strasse for Straße. This is understood everywhere, but use the real letters in exams and official forms.
When do I write ß and when ss?
Write ß after a long vowel or a diphthong (Straße, groß, heißen) and ss after a short vowel (Wasser, muss, Klasse). In Switzerland ß is not used at all. In capital letters people usually write SS, although a capital ẞ also exists.
What is “A wie Anton”?
It is how Germans spell words on the phone: every letter gets a name, A wie Anton, B wie Berta, C wie Cäsar and so on. The traditional list comes from the German standard DIN 5009. Since 2022 the standard uses city names instead, but the old names are still widely used.
Is German pronunciation hard for English speakers?
Most of it is easy because German is so regular. The sounds that need practice are ü, ö, the two ch sounds and the German r. Listen and repeat a few minutes every day, for example with the pronunciation trainer and the spelling drills in the listening gym.