The alphabet and the vowels
German letters, long and short vowels, and the umlauts ä, ö, ü
Part of the free A0 German course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.
Welcome to German! German spelling is much more regular than English. Once you know a handful of rules, you can read almost any word aloud.
The alphabet
German uses the same 26 letters as English, plus the three umlauts ä, ö, ü and the letter ß. You need the letter names when you spell your name or your email address.
| Letter | Name | Letter | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ah | N | enn |
| B | beh | O | oh |
| C | tseh | P | peh |
| D | deh | Q | kuh |
| E | eh | R | err |
| F | eff | S | ess |
| G | geh | T | teh |
| H | hah | U | uh |
| I | ih | V | fau |
| J | jott | W | weh |
| K | kah | X | iks |
| L | ell | Y | üpsilon |
| M | emm | Z | tsett |
The extra letters are called ä (eh), ö, ü and ß (Eszett or scharfes S).
Long and short vowels
Each vowel has a long and a short version. The spelling tells you which one:
- A vowel is long when it is doubled (Tee, Boot), when an h follows it (fahren, Sohn), or when only one consonant follows it (Tag, Name).
- A vowel is short when two or more consonants follow it (Bett, Mutter, kommen, Wald).
| Letter | Long | Short |
|---|---|---|
| a | Tag (day), like a in father | Mann (man), a short, open a |
| e | Tee (tea), like ay in day but without the glide | Bett (bed), like e in bed |
| i | Kino (cinema), like ee in see | bitte (please), like i in bit |
| o | Boot (boat), like o in go but without the w glide | kommen (to come), like o in British hot |
| u | gut (good), like oo in moon | Mutter (mother), like u in put |
The h after a vowel (fahren, Sohn, Uhr) is silent. It only tells you that the vowel is long.
The umlauts ä, ö, ü
The two dots change the sound. They are not decoration, and leaving them out can make a different word (schon means "already", schön means "beautiful").
- ä sounds like e: like e in bed when short (Äpfel), and like a long "eh" when long (Käse, cheese).
- ö has no English equivalent. Say the e of Tee and round your lips as if to say oh: schön, hören.
- ü has no English equivalent either. Say ee as in see and round your lips as if to say oo: Tür (door), müde (tired).
No umlaut key? Write ae, oe, ue: Kaese, schoen, Tuer. Everyone understands it.
Two vowels together
| Spelling | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ei | eye | mein (my), drei (three) |
| ie | ee in see | Liebe (love), spielen (to play) |
| au | ow in how | Haus (house) |
| eu, äu | oy in boy | neu (new), Häuser (houses) |
A simple trick for ei and ie: say the second letter's English name. ei sounds like English "I", ie sounds like English "E".
Endings: -e and -er
A final -e is never silent. It is a soft "uh": bitte is BIT-tuh, Name is NAH-muh. A final -er sounds like a short "uh" too, with almost no r: Vater is FAH-tuh.
- Der Tee ist heiß.The tea is hot.
- Das Boot ist groß.The boat is big.
- Mein Bett ist neu.My bed is new.
- Die Butter ist gut.The butter is good.
- Ich fahre nach Hause.I'm going home.
- Das Hotel ist schön.The hotel is beautiful.
- Ich spiele mit Lena.I'm playing with Lena.
- Die Häuser sind alt.The houses are old.
In German, ä, ö and ü are separate sounds, so practise them out loud. If you round your lips well, you are already halfway there.
Common mistakes
- Reading ei as "ee" and ie as "eye". It is the other way round: mein sounds like "mine", Liebe sounds like "LEE-buh".
- Dropping the umlaut: schon (already) and schön (beautiful) are two different words.
- Saying the h in fahren or Sohn. After a vowel the h is silent.
- Swallowing the final -e: Name has two syllables, NAH-muh.
- Spelling with English letter names: in German, E is "eh", I is "ih" and J is "jott".
Practice
- The letters 'ie' in 'Liebe' (love) sound like…Options: the 'ee' in 'see' · the English word 'eye' · two separate sounds, 'ee-eh'
Show the answer
the 'ee' in 'see' — ie is always a long 'ee'. Say the second letter's English name: E.
- The letters 'ei' in 'mein' (my) sound like…Options: the English word 'eye' · the 'ee' in 'see' · the 'ay' in 'day'
Show the answer
the English word 'eye' — ei sounds like English 'I': mein sounds like 'mine'.
- The letters 'eu' in 'neu' (new) sound like…Options: the 'oy' in 'boy' · the 'ew' in English 'new' · the 'ay' in 'day'
Show the answer
the 'oy' in 'boy' — eu and äu both sound like 'oy': neu, Häuser.
- Which word has a LONG vowel?Options: Boot (boat) · Bett (bed) · Mutter (mother) · kommen (to come)
Show the answer
Boot (boat) — A doubled vowel is always long. A double consonant after a vowel makes it short.